
Class 

Book S^ 

Gopyriglit^N?- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 





-' 






ftv 



X 




The Boyhood of Christ 



A LIFE OF CHRIST FOR CHILDREN 



AS TOLD BY A GRANDMOTHER. 



Adapted from the French of 
Mme. La Oomtesse de Segnr 



MARY VIRGINIA MERRICK. 



ST. LOUIS, MO., 1909. 

Published by B. Herder 

17 South Broadway 



Freiburg (Baden) 
B. HERDER 



London and Edinburgh 
SANDS & CO. 



•S3 



NIHIL OBSTAT 
St. Louis, die 25, Sept. 1909. 



F. G. Hoi week, 

Censor Librorum, 



IMPRIMATUR 
St. Louis, die 25, Sept. 1909. 



J Joannes J. Glennon, 

Archiepiscopus 

Sti. Ludovici. 



Copyright, 1909, by Joseph Gummersbach. 



248734 



FOREWORD. 

Our Holy Father, Pius X., at the beginning 
of his pontificate, issued a great letter to the 
whole world, in which he said that it was the 
desire of his heart to restore all things in Christ. 
Small as our share must be in such a great work, 
we can, at least, as faithful children of our Holy 
Father, begin with ourselves and strive to make 
our own life an imitation of the Life of Jesus of 
Nazareth. To know Him in the flesh, how He lived 
and talked and acted when He was upon earth, 
should surely be to us not only of the greatest 
interest, but also the most inspiring call to action 
and faithful service. Our dear Lord was simplicity 
itself, and the translator of the present work has 
put before us in simple language that story — the 
greatest that the world has ever known. To make 
ourselves familiar with the life of Jesus Christ 
from Bethlehem to Calvary, and to the Mount of 
the Ascension, is a most efficacious way to warm 
our souls with a love for Him who died that we 
might live, a most sure way of having Him with us 
through all the days of our life, and even in the 
hour when He calls us unto that land where He 
waits for us. 

J. CARD. GIBBONS. 



PREFACE 



This volume presents to its young readers in a manner 
suited to their age the life on earth of our Blessed Lord. 
We follow Him in this story related for us by His own 
immediate followers in the pages of the Holy Gospel. 

We see him as an infant, a child, a grown boy, and 
then, in the fullness of His power, as a man. 

His whole life is worthy of our study because nothing 
begins to compare in value, either in time or eternity, 
with the life of Jesus Christ. 

Nothing is more beneficial to the young boy or girl of 
to-day than a knowledge of that Life. He will find in it 
the instruction that he most needs ; he will find therein 
how to live as a boy and afterwards as a man ; and, in 
imitating Christ, he will bring out the very best that is 
in himself, both from an earthly and a heavenly stand- 
point. 

We must remember that Jesus Christ came down from 
heaven and became a man and lived His human life to 
show us how we ought to live. There is no one to whom 
He does not speak directly through that life, and it is 
just as valuable, just as practical, now as it was in the 
days when Christ walked upon earth. As we grow up 
and meet the little or big things of everyday life, we are 
called upon to show our worth and our character, or to 
show that we haven't anything of either — which God 
forbid. 

Every day we are called upon to do this little work of 
study or of errands at home; to keep our temper in this 



game or under this trial; to be pure, not to seek to satisfy 
our curiosity, or our senses, by indulging in this pleas- 
ure or in that; to keep to our religious duties; to love our 
parents, our brothers, our sisters, with a real, unselfish 
love. We are called upon to stand for honesty; for fair 
play; for truthfulness; for purity and cleanliness of life — 
all through our days. 

All these calls must come to every one of us; they do 
come every day. And it is equally true that we need 
the example, the lesson of One Who actually faced all 
the evils of the world; Who had pain and suffering and 
yet Who conquered all and won out in all. Jesus Christ 
was a man among men, and in His manhood He gave an 
example of what every man should be; of what every 
one of us should be. In every case that comes before 
us where we must ask ourselves whether we will do this 
or that, whether we will refrain from this forbidden 
pleasure or yield to it, in every case we can readily 
see — since we know Him — what Jesus Christ would 
have done and what He would wish us to do. There is 
no uncertainty about it; there is no doubt about it. 
Before us, as a great light, the greatest light the world 
has ever known; greater and more piercing than the 
sun, illuminating every soul, is the life of Jesus Christ. 
He has given His example, He has shown what ought 
to be done in every case to every boy and girl, every 
man and woman. 

To show forth the splendor and the practical value of 
that Life has been the object of this Grandmother's 
Story. It has been a work of much labor, but of greater 
love. We wish that our children would study it; read it 
over time and time again; read the Gospels from which 
it is taken; sit down quietly now and again and think 
of our Lord Jesus, think of how we ourselves are imi- 
tating Him; and always, day and night, pray to Him 



in utter confidence and childlike affection and frank- 
ness and love. Then, indeed, will you love Him even 
more than you do, and the sweetest, most gracious com- 
fort in your life will be the personal love that you bear 
to Jesus Christ; and nothing, no sin of any kind, will 
ever separate you from Him. That love will be your 
abiding support, and upon it you will find that you can 
lean when all else fails. 

May the knowledge and the love of Him sink deep 
into your hearts; so deep that nothing will ever be strong 
enough or alluring enough to root it out. 14 ve for Him; 
grow like unto Him; and then, as He was, so will you 
be, kind and patient and pure and hopeful. In the 
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist will you possess Him 
as your very own; then will you speak to Him and 
He to you, and the glories that your soul will know in 
its communions with Him through life will be unfolded, 
in all their fullness when he asks you to come to Him 
in the Kingdom where He now reigns. 

JOHN J. BURKE, C. S. P. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Sophie, Comtesse de Segur, was born in the year 
1799 in Russia. Her father was the Count Rostop- 
schine who at that time was Prime Minister to the 
Emperor Paul. The Czar stood Godfather to little 
Sophie who was baptized in the Greek Church, which 
later on in life Sophie renounced to embrace the 
Catholic faith. 

Sophie's childhood and girlhood were spent in 
Russia as one of a large and happy family of brothers 
and sisters. 

At an early age she met and married the Count de 
Segur of France, in which country she ever after- 
wards resided. 

This happy union was blessed with many children, 
one of whom became Monseigneur de Segur, so well 
beloved in Paris, where for many years he exercised 
his priestly ministry. His numerous writings, num- 
bering at least one hundred brochures, or small 
books, testify to his piety and love of little children. 

This affection for the lambs of his flock, Monseig- 
neur de Segur imbibed from his mother, all her life 
a lover of children. When time had lessened her 
maternal cares, Mme. de Segur found her greatest 
happiness in living over, in the company of her 



INTRODUCTION 

grandchildren, the years of her motherhood. She 
was the devoted grandmother of thirteen little ones, 
whose greatest delight was to listen to the stories 
she could so well tell and to which their mothers had 
listened as eagerly. 

It was not until late in life that Mme. de Segur com- 
mitted to writing these charming tales, and which 
to this day are read with delight by the children over 
the sea. 

Among these tales none was listened to with 
greatest interest than that wonderful story of God 
become man, and for thirty-three years making our 
earth his home. 

We can picture this happy band of little ones 
gathered on a bright morning in grandma's sunny 
room and begging for the promised story of Christ. 

There they all are, Camille and her sister Made- 
leine, Elizabeth and her four brothers, Pierre, Henry, 
Louis, and Jack, and their cousins, Henrietta and 
Jane, Valentine, Mary, Theresa, and even Paul and 
little Louis, only five years old, all eager to hear. 

The sunlight streams in on expectant faces, on 
golden curies, brown hair, and grandma's white 
head. The canary sings his loudest while the chil- 
dren scramble for the places at grandma's right 
and left. 

Finally all are seated, and grandma, seated in her 
big armchair, begins The Story of Christ. 



INDEX. 



BOOK FIRS! 

The Childhood of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 1. The Jews 3 

2. " Annunciation 5 

3. " Visitation 8 

4. Birth of John the Baptist 11 

5. Birth of Jesus Christ \ 13 

Adoration of the Shepherds J 

6. The Wise Men 17 

7. The Presentation in the Temple 21 

8. The Massacre of the Innocents 25 

9. Jesus Among the Doctors 28 

BOOK SECOND 
First Year of the Ministry of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 10. St. John the Baptist \ ™ 

Baptism of Christ J 

11. Jesus in the Desert \ ^ 6 

The Temptation J 

12. The Testimony of John \ 4 q 

The First Disciples of Jesus J 

13. The Marriage Feast at Cana 45 

14. The Hucksters Driven From the Temple 48 

15. The Samaritan Woman, or Jesus at Jacob's Well 50 

16. Jesus Teaches in the Synagogue 53 

17. Jesus Heals the Son of the Ruler t 56 

18. Jesus Calls Peter and Andrew 58 

19. Jesus Cures the Demoniac 60 

20. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes 62 

21. The Curing of the Leper 66 

22. The Calling of Matthew 70 

23. The Healing of the Paralytic 72 



BOOK THIRD. 

Second Year of the Ministry of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 24. The Pool of Bethesda 75 

25. The Man with the Withered Hand 80 

26. Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles 82 

27. The Sermon on the Mount 84 

28. The "Our Father" 92 

29. The Centurion 97 

30. The Son of the Widow of Nairn 100 

31. John the Baptist Sends His Disciples to Jesus. . 102 

32. The Sinful Woman in the House of Simon 104 

33. Miracles and Parables of Jesus 107 

34. The Quieting of the Tempest 114 

35. The Cure of the Man Possessed of an Evil Spirit 116 

36. The Daughter of Jairus 119 

37. The Curing of the Blind and the Dumb 122 

38. Christ Visits Nazareth 125 

39. The Mission of the Apostles 127 

40. Beheading of John the Baptist 132 

41. The Feeding of the Multitude in the Desert 135 

42. Christ Walks Upon the Water 138 

43. The Promise of the Eucharist 141 

44. The Woman of Chanaan 145 

45. Cure of the Deaf and Dumb Man 148 

46. Jesus Feeds the Multitude 150 

47. The Cure of the Blind Man 152 

BOOK FOURTH. 

Third Year of the Ministry of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 48. Christ Establishes Peter Head of His Church. . . 154 

49. Christ Predicts His Death and Resurrection 157 

50. The Transfiguration of Our Lord 160 

51. The Healing of the Boy Possessed of the Devil. 162 

52. Jesus Pays the Tribute Money 166 

53. Dispute Among the Disciples 168 

54. Parable of the King and His Servants 172 

55. The Samaritans Refuse to Receive Jesus 176 

56. Parable of the Good Samaritan 178 

57. Martha and Mary 180 

58. The Barren Fig Tree 183 

59. The Cure of the Woman Bent Double 185 

ii 



Page 

Chap. 60. Christ Weeps Over Jerusalem 186 

" 61. A Parable on Humility 187 

62. Parable of the Feast 190 

63. We Are to Love God Above All 193 

" 64. Parable of the Good Shepherd and of the Lost 

Groat 196 

65. The Prodigal Son 198 

" 66. Parabje of the Rich Man and Lazarus 203 

67. The Pharisees Seek to Lay Hold of Jesus 207 

68. The Sinful Woman 209 

69. Cure of the Man Born Blind 212 

70. The Good Shepherd 217 

71. The Ten Lepers 219 

72. The Pharisee and the Publican \ 2 2l 

Christ Blesses Little Children J 

73. Christ and the Rich Young Man 224 

74. Parable of the Workmen in the Vineyard 228 

75. The Raising of Lazarus 231 

76. Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection 237 

44 77. Zaccheus Receives Jesus in His House 239 

78. Parable of the Ten Talents 241 

" 79. Mary Magdalene Anoints the Feet of Jesus 245 

BOOK FIFTH. 

The Last Days in the Ministry of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 80. The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem . . 247 

" 81. Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem 249 

" 82. Jesus Condemns the Barren Fig Tree \ 2 m 

The Venders Driven From the Temple J 

" 83. Christ Answers the Pharisees 255 

" 84. Parable of the Vineyard and the Husbandmen. . 257 

85. Parable of the Wedding Feast 261 

86. The Tribute to Caesar 263 

87. The Love of God and of Our Neighbor 265 

** 88. The Widow's Mite 268 

44 89. Jesus Predicts the Ruin of Jerusalem, and the 

Last Day 269 

90. Parable of the Ten Virgins 270 

44 91. Judas Determines to Betray Christ 274 

" 92. The Last Supper 277 

44 93. Christ Washes the Feet of His Disciples 280 

94. The Institution of the Blessed Eucharist 283 



BOOK SIXTH. 

The Passion and the Resurrection of Jesus. 

Page 

Chap. 95. The Agony in the Garden 287 

" 96. Judas Betrays Christ 291 

" 97. Jesus Before Annas 294 

" 98. Jesus Before Caiphus 296 

99. Peter Denies Christ 298 

" 100. Despair and Death of Judas 300 

" 101. Christ Before Pilate 302 

102. Christ Before Herod 304 

103. Christ Sent Back to Pilate 305 

" 104. Christ is Scourged 307 

" 105. Pilate Condemns Christ to Death 309 

" 106. Christ Carries His Cross 313 

" 107. Christ is Crucified 315 

" 108. The Conversion of the Good Thief 317 

" 109. Christ Leaves His Mother to St. John 320 

« 110. Christ Dies on the Cross 322 

4 * 111. Christ is Buried .324 

" 112. The Resurrection of Christ 328 

" 113. Mary Magdalene at the Tomb of Christ 331 

ci 114. Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene 333 

" 115. Christ Appears to the Holy Women 335 

" 116. Christ Appears to the Disciples on the Road to 

Emmaus 337 

" 117. Christ Appears to the Disciples Gathered To- 
gether 339 

11 118. The Incredulity of Thomas 342 

" 119. St. Peter Appointed Head of the Church 344 

" 120. Christ Ascends into Heaven 346 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



BOOK FIRST 

The Childhood of Jesus 

CHAPTER I. 
THE JEWS. 

Grandma: I am about to tell you the story of 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of 
the Blessed Trinity; God made man to redeem us 
from sin and eternal death. I may in the course of 
this wonderful story use words which the little ones 
may not understand, do not fail to interrupt me and 
ask any question you wish. 

The Jews were a people favored by God. Over 
this nation he watched with special care. To them 
he had foretold through his servants, the prophets, 
the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ, who was to be 
born among them and who was to save them from 
the evil ones. 

The Jews should have been very good, being so 
blessed by God, but they were often wicked and 
rebelled against God and against the kings God ap- 
pointed over them; but God is so good and merciful 
that he forgives as often as we repent and beg his 
forgiveness, and as often as the Jews fell into sin 
and repented, God would forgive them, but un- 
fortunately they would fall again. 



4 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

God had given them a beautiful country which 
was called Judea and later on was called Palestine. 

There they lived and waited for this Savior, 
whose coming the prophets had foretold centuries 
before. 

They thought the Son of God would come in great 
glory, as the most powerful and the richest of kings ; 
that he would have a large following and immense 
wealth. 

While they were waiting and studying the words 
of the prophets, and disputing among themselves 
concerning this promised Messias and the time of his 
coming, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord and 
Savior, was about to be born in Judea. 



, _ , — , v ,. vf . 






Annunciation 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ANNUNCIATION. 

Joachim and Anna, two faithful servants of God 
who were descended from the great Jewish king, 
David, were blessed with a daughter named Mary. 

At the age of fifteen Mary was espoused to her 
cousin, Joseph, who was also of the House of David. 

Mary was the most beautiful, the wisest, and the 
most perfect of all God's creatures. One day while 
she was praying in her home at Nazareth, suddenly 
before her stood a beautiful angel, resplendent with 
light. It was the Angel Gabriel, God's messenger, 
and he said to Mary: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord 
is with thee; blessed art thou among women." At 
these words of the angel Mary grew troubled, be- 
cause she was very humble and never thought of 
her many virtues, and considered herself therefore 
unworthy of being spoken to by the angel as "blessed 
among women." 

While thinking within herself what such a greeting 
might mean, the angel spoke again and said to her: 
"Fear not, Mary, thou hast found grace with God. 
Thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his 
name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called 



6 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall 
give unto him the throne of David, his father; and 
he shall reign forever, and of his kingdom there shall 
be no end." 

And Mary said to the angel: "How shall this be 
done?" The Angel answering said to her: 

"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the 
power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And 
therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee 
shall be called the Son of God." 

The angel added that in three months her cousin, 
Elizabeth, who was old, and whom people mocked 
and called sterile, would also have a son, to show that 
nothing was impossible to God. 

And Mary said: "Behold the handmaid of the 
Lord; be it done to me according to thy word." 
And the angel left her — 

Elizabeth: Grandma, why did the angel say that 
people mocked Elizabeth because she was sterile? 
What is sterile? 

Grandma: Sterile means that she had never had 
a child. The Jews considered this a great disgrace, 
because every Jew hoped that Jesus, the Messias, 
promised by God to deliver the world from sin, 
would be born in their family, and when a Jew was 
not blessed with children he could not cherish this 
hope. 

Henry: And why did the angel say he would be 
great ? How would he be great ? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 7 

Grandma: The angel meant he would be great 
in holiness and in power. 

Louis: Why did the angel say he would reign 
forever? He did not reign at all, and doesn't reign 
now. 

Grandma: The angel spoke of the spiritual king- 
dom of Jesus over the whole world. The kingdom 
of Jesus is the Church. The pope, the bishops, and 
the priests of the Church have been working for 
eighteen hundred years to establish the kingdom of 
Jesus Christ on this earth. Our Lord has returned to 
Heaven where he now is, where he will be forever, 
and whence he reigns and rules over all men; where 
he rewards the good and punishes the wicked. 

Now, I shall tell you the story of the Visitation, 
that is to say, the visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
to her cousin, Elizabeth, the wife of Zachary, a 
priest of the temple of Jerusalem. 

Jane: What is a temple ? 

Grandma: The temple was for the Jews what the 
church is for us. It was the house of God. In the 
temple they kept the commandments of God written 
on tables of stone, which they called the "Tables 
of the Law." 

It was here all sacred things were preserved, and 
it was in the temple the Jews gathered together to 
offer up their sacrifices. 



8 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER III. 

THE VISITATION. 

Zachary was a Jewish priest. He and his wife, 
Elizabeth, were very old. Elizabeth was eighty 
years of age. They had no children, which saddened 
them greatly. 

Henry: Did the Jewish priests marry? 

Grandma: Yes, the priests of the Jewish law 
married, because the old law was not as perfect as 
our law, and did not exact of the priests a life of 
such absolute devotion and renunciation. 

Our priests have no wives, in order that they may 
devote themselves more exclusively to the service 
of God, to the salvation of souls, to the relief of the 
poor, and to the religious instruction of children. 

One day Zachary entered the temple to offer 
incense to God at the alter of the sanctuary. 

The people remained outside, praying. Accord- 
ing to the Jewish custom, the priests alone had the 
right to enter this part of the temple. While Zach- 
ary was praying and burning incense, he saw an 
angel standing at the right of the alter. 

Zachary was troubled and frightened at the 
apparition of an angel, but the angel said to him: 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 9 

"Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and 
thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear a son, and thou shalt 
call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and 
gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. He 
shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, and he shall 
convert many of the children of Isreal to the Lord 
their God." 

Zachary found it difficult to believe the words of 
the angel, and said to him: 

"Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, 
and my wife is advanced in years." 

The Angel answered : 

"I am Gabriel, who stand before God; and am 
sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good 
tidings. And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt 
not be able to speak until the day wherein these 
things shall come to pass, because thou hast not 
believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their 
time." 

And the angel disappeared. 

When Zachary came out of the temple the people 
asked him why he had tarried so long inside; but he 
could not answer, for he was dumb. 

A short while after this Zachary knew the angel's 
promise would soon be fulfilled and that Elizabeth 
would have a son. 

Elizabeth rejoiced and thanked God who had now 
taken from her the humilation under which she had 
so long lived. 



10 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

While Elizabeth was praising God for this great 
favor, her cousin, the Virgin Mary, who knew of this 
good news from the angel, asked her spouse, Joseph, 
to take her to visit Elizabeth. Joseph consented, 
and they set out on foot for the city of Hebron, 
where dwelt Elizabeth, across the hills of Judea. 

When Mary entered the house she greeted her 
cousin, Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth heard 
Mary's voice she was filled with the Holy Ghost, who 
revealed to her that Mary was to be the mother of 
the Son of God, and she cried out : 

"Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is 
the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this (honor) 
to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to 
me?" To whom Mary replied in the words of that 
beautiful hymn of thanksgiving, called the "Mag- 
nificat," which is sung in Church at the end of 
Vespers. 

After Mary had spent three months with her 
cousin, Elizabeth, she returned to her own home 
in Nazareth. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 11 



CHAPTER IV. 

BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

At the time predicted by the Angel Gabriel Eliz- 
abeth gave birth to a son. On hearing this glad news 
many came to congratulate her, for Elizabeth had 
long desired a son, and had prayed fervently that 
she might one day be a mother. On the eighth day 
after the birth of the child, according to the custom 
of the Jewish people, the priests came to circum- 
cise him. 

Henry: What does circumcise mean ? 

Grandma: Circumcision was the mark of the 
Jewish religion, and when administered the child 
received its name as do Christians when they re- 
ceive baptism. 

The priests, therefore, wished to circumcise the 
child, and to give him his father's name, Zachary. 
But Elizabeth said to them: "Not so; he shall be 
called John." But they replied: "There is none 
of thy kindred called by that name." In Hebuew 
John signified full of grace. 

As Elizabeth insisted, Zachary was asked to in- 
dicate in some way what should be the child's name. 



12 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Zachary, taking a writing tablet, wrote: "John 
is his name." 

This surprised every one, and, at that moment 
Zachary's tongue was loosed miraculously, and he 
began to speak and to praise God. 

All those present and all the people of the neigh- 
borhood were filled with wonder and admiration. 
And they came from far and wide to see this child, 
whose birth was accompanied by such miracles; 
and they said to one another : "What a one, think ye, 
this child shall be? For the hand of the Lord was 
with him." 

And John grew and increased in strength and was 
remarkably intelligent, and when he grew older he 
withdrew into the desert. 

Mary: What is a desert ? 

Grandma: The desert is a desolate place of sandy 
soil in which nothing can grow. John withdrew 
into the desert to prepare for his great mission of 
Precursor; that is to say, forerunner of Christ. He 
was to announce the coming of Jesus, the Savior of 
the world 




The Nativity 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 13 



CHAPTER V. 

THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. ADORATION OF THE 
SHEPHERDS. 

Grandma: Shortly before the birth of Jesus, 
Augustus Caesar, Emperor of Rome and ruler of 
Judea, ordered that a census be taken of all the 
inhabitants of the countries under his rule. Cy- 
rinus, Governor of Syria, obeying this injunction, 
issued an edict that all the people of Syria and Judea 
should be enrolled, each in the city of his fore- 
fathers. At this time Joseph lived in Nazareth, a 
city of Galilee, and to be enrolled according to this 
command of Ceasar's he was obliged to travel to 
Bethlehem, a little town in the province of Judea, 
near Jerusalem, about twenty-five miles from 
Nazareth. Bethlehem was the city of David and 
of his family, and you remember that I told you that 
Joseph and Mary were of the family of David. He 
set out, therefore, with Mary his espoused wife. 

The journey was long and Mary was very weary 
when they reached Bethlehem, and Joseph anx- 
iously sought a shelter for his spouse, but every- 
where he was refused. A large concourse of people 



14 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

had come to this city to be enrolled, "and there 
was no room for them in the inn." 

When Joseph was turned away from the inn, not 
knowing where to turn to find a resting place for 
Mary, he wandered outside of the city, and there, 
near the gates of the city, he found a cave, which 
served as a stable to shelter cows and mules. 

Tradition tells us that King David had often 
rested in this cave when, as a shepherd, he watched 
his flocks nearby. There Joseph prepared for Mary 
a bed of straw, and in that stable of Bethlehem 
Jesus came into the world. In the country round 
about Bethlehem, as in the days of King David, 
there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks 
by day and night for fear they might be stolen or 
harm come to them. Suddenly, in the middle of 
the night "an angel of the Lord stood by them, and 
the brightness of God shone round about them; and 
they feared with a great fear; but the angel said to 
them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good 
tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people; 
for this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ 
the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be 
a sign unto you. You shall find the Infant wrapped 
in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger." 

Jane: What is a manger? 

Grandma: A manger is a kind of trough out of 
which the animals of the stable eat. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 15 

John: But the poor infant must have been very 
uncomfortable in such a cradle. 

Grandma: Yes; he was poorly cradled and 
clothed, but God so willed it. 

Jane: How was it that God, who is his father, 
and who made all things, did not give him a nice 
cradle and a beautiful home, instead of letting him 
lie in a manger in a miserable stable? 

Grandma: Because the Child Jesus wished to 
show us, by his example, that we must not desire 
the riches, of this world, nor set our hearts on those 
things that wealth can give; and that we must love 
privations and humiliations. 

Louise: I don't want to lie in a manger nor live 
in a stable. 

Grandma : We are not obliged to sleep in a stable, 
but we are called upon not to be too exacting or too 
fond of our own ease and comfort. 

After the angel had told the shepherds how they 
were to recognize the Child, "there was suddenly 
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, 
praising God, and saying: 'Glory to God in the 
highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.' " 
After the angels left the shepherds "they said to one 
another, lets us go over to Bethlehem, and let us 
see this Word that has come to pass, which the 
Lord hath showed to us. And they came with haste; 
and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in 
a manger." And when they saw the Child they 



16 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

adored him and they understood the words of the 
angel. 

All those to whom the shepherds told of this first 
Christmas night wondered at the marvelous things 
they heard. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, kept 
in her heart the memory of all these things and 
dwelt on them lovingly. 

At the end of eight days the Child was circumcised, 
and the name of Jesus was given him, as the Angel 
Gabriel had told Mary before his coming. 





Adoration of the Wisemen 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 17 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE WISE MEN. 

Shortly after these events news came to Herod 
that there were strangers in Jerusalem, Wise Men 
from the East, and that they were asking of every 
one: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? 
For we have seen his star in the east, and are come 
to adore him." 

When Herod heard this, he was alarmed, for he 
feared that a king greater than he should come and 
take from him his kingdom. 

He sent, therefore, for the Wise Men and ques- 
tioned them and learnt that the king of whom they 
spoke and whom they sought was Christ, the Mes- 
sias, whose coming the Jews expected as foretold to 
them by the prophets. 

Then Herod sent for the priests, the scribes, and 
all the learned men of Jerusalem and inquired of 
them where the Christ was to be born. And they 
answered: "In Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is 
written by the prophet." 

And calling aside the Wise Men he questioned 
them with great care as to the time the star had 
appeared to them. 



18 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

The Wise Men, who are also called the Magi, told 
Herod that the coming of Jesus Christ had been 
revealed to them, and that a star, larger and more 
beautiful than all the other stars of the heavens, had 
appeared in the east as a sign to them of the birth of 
this promised Messias, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 
They related how they had immediately set out to 
find him, the star going before them and guiding 
them on their way. They added that this star had 
disappeared as they reached Jerusalem, and there- 
fore they were eagerly asking to see this King of the 
Jews, whose coming had been foretold to them, and 
whom they had come so far to seek that they might 
adore him. 

Herod thanked them and told them to go to Bethle- 
hem, for it had been foretold that in that city would 
be born the Messias who was to save all men and 
deliver them from the power of the evil one. 

"Go," he said, "and diligently inquire after the 
Child, and when you have found him, bring me word 
again, that I also may come and adore him.'* 

The Magi set out again, and immediately the star 
reappeared, and "seeing the star they rejoiced with 
exceeding great joy," and it went before them, as it 
had done in their long journeyings "until it came 
and stood over the cave where the Child was." 

The Magi, with joy in their hearts, entered the 
stable, "and there they found the Child with Mary 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 19 

his mother, and falling down they adored him; and 
opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: 
gold, frankincense, and myrrh." 

Jack: Is incense a treasure? I don't think that 
is much of a gift. We burn it in all our churches. 

Grandma: The incense we burn is a resin, a 
kind of gum, which flows from certain trees; but it 
has not the delicious fragrance of the incense of 
Arabia and Judea. This incense was, and still is, 
very rare and costly. 

Jack: But what could the Child Jesus and his 
mother do with it? It seems a very useless gift to 
me. 

Grandma: The Magi offered incense, not only 
as a precious and valuable gift, but as an homage, 
as an act of worship, showing by this offering that 
they recognized this Child as the Son of God, for 
incense is offered only to God. 

Henrietta: What is myrrh ? 

Grandma: Myrrh is a very precious perfume; 
very bitter to the taste. This gift signified that 
Jesus was to suffer much to atone for the sins of 
men, and would finally die to save mankind. All 
this God had revealed to the Magi. 

After having adored the Child, the Wise Men 
made ready to return to their own country. But 
before setting out, an angel appeared to them in 
their sleep and commanded them to go back an- 



20 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

other way, forbidding them to return to Herod in 
Jerusalem, and warning them that Herod only 
wished to find the Child that he might put him to 
death. 

In the meanwhile Herod waited and grew im- 
patient at their delay, and wondered that they failed 
to return to him as he had commanded them to do. 




Presentation in the Temple 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 21 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. 
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 

After the return of the Magi to their own country 
it was time when, according to the law of Moses, 
Mary was obliged to go to Jerusalem to present the 
Child Jesus in the Temple and offer a sacrifice. 

Joseph and Mary offered two turtle doves, as the 
customary offering of the poor. The rich always 
offered a lamb. 

Louis: Why were doves and lambs offered? To 
whom were they offered ? 

Grandma: According to the law of the Jews as, 
all men belonged to God, parents were obliged to 
offer their children to God as soon as possible after 
their birth for the service of the Temple. 

After making this offering, however, they were 
allowed to take back their infants, leaving in their 
stead offerings of turtle doves or lambs, according to 
their means. The high priests received these offer- 
ings and killed them and offered them to the Lord 
as a sacrifice agreeable to him. 

Paul: But this was not true, was it, grandma? 

Grandma: Oh, yes; it was true. God was 
pleased with these sacrifices because they were 



22 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

offered in obedience to the law, and God delights in 
obedience. 

Elizabeth: But why had God commanded sacri- 
fices? How could the blood of animals be agreeable 
to him? 

Grandma: The blood of these animals was not in 
itself agreeable to God, but only because it pre- 
figured the sacrifice of the cross, by which divine 
sacrifice Jesus Christ was to save us. The day the 
Virgin Mary and her husband, Joseph, carried the 
Infant Jesus to the Temple, they found there an old 
man named Simeon who was a just man and obe- 
dient to the law of God. It had been revealed to 
him that before his eyes closed in death he would 
see the Messias, Christ, the Son of God. 

When, therefore, the Child was brought into the 
Temple the Spirit of God made known to Simeon 
that this Child was the Messias he expected; the 
promised Redeemer, who was to save all men. 

Simeon took the Child Jesus in his arms, and with 
great joy began to glorify God, saying: 

"Now thou dost dismiss thy servant in peace, 
O Lord, according to thy word, because my eyes 
have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared 
before the face of all thy people." 

While Simeon continued thus praising God, and 
saying sublime things of the Child and of his mother, 
an old woman named Anna, who was a prophetess, 
a widow of eighty-four years of age, entered the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 23 

Temple, and she too began to praise the Lord and 
to speak of the Child Jesus as the one whose coming 
the Jews had long looked for to deliver them from 
the power of the evil one. 

Louis: And how did Simeon know that Jesus 
wastheMessias? 

Grandma: It was told to him by the Holy Ghost 
speaking within him without words. 

Jack: How could Simeon understand when the 
Holy Ghost spoke without words? 

Grandma: It is possible for the Holy Ghost, the 
Spirit of God, who is God equal to the Father and 
the Son, to make himself understood to a soul with- 
out use of words, as it is possible to you, for instance, 
to think of your father and mother when absent 
from them, and to recall the words they have 
spoken to you . However, for us , to whom God has not 
granted such favors, it is not easy to understand 
what passes between God and the souls of his saints. 

After the Presentation in the Temple Mary and 
Joseph returned to Bethlehem with the Child Jesus. 

One night, as Joseph was sleeping, an angel 
appeared to him and said: "Arise, take the Child 
and his mother, and fly into Egypt; and be there 
until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that 
Herod will seek the Child to destroy him." And 
Joseph rose at once and woke Mary and told her the 
message of the angel, and they made ready and set 
out immediately for Egypt. 



24 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Jack: How did they travel without a carriage? 

Grandma: Tradition tells us they journeyed with 
an ass. Joseph seated Mary on the donkey with the 
Child Jesus in her arms, and he walked beside them 
leading the donkey. Thus they fled to Egypt in the 
darkness of the night, so that no human eye could 
see them or human tongue tell Herod which way 
they had gone. 

Jack: But why, grandma, as the Child Jesus 
was the Son of God, did he not order that Herod be 
put to death? 

Grandma: Because Jesus did not come on earth 
to destroy the wicked, but to convert them, and, 
moreover, he wished to suffer all these trails for love 
of us, to teach us to bear patiently our burdens in 
this life. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 25 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. 

Herod still waited for the return of the Wise Men, 
and finally, when he gave up hope of seeing them 
again, he grew very angry, for he realized that, 
without their aid, he could not find the Child-king, 
whose birth the Magi had announced to him, and 
whose coming he greatly feared would deprive him 
of his kingdom. He had determined to put this 
Child to death, but how could he accomplish this 
evil deed, not knowing where he dwelt? 

Therefore, he resolved to kill all children aged two 
years and under, feeling sure that the Child Jesus 
would be among the children of that age. So this 
cruel king ordered his soldiers, who were as wicked 
as he, to go to Bethlehem sword in hand and massacre 
all children of tender years. 

Louis: What a horrible man! How terrible! 
The poor parents must have cried as much as their 
little ones. 

Grandma: They certainly did, and I must tell 
you that a long time before this event happened a 
prophet named Jeremias — 

L ouis : And what is a prophet ? 



26 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: A prophet is a man to whom God 
gives the gift of being able to know and tell before- 
hand things that will happen. 

Louis: What — he can tell what has not yet 
happened ? 

Henrietta: It is as if the good Lord gave me this 
gift and I should know beforehand and say to you: 
To-night you will be naughty and to-morrow you 
will be punished, and in ten years you will die; and 
then, if it all happened, I would be a prophet. Is 
that not so, grandma? 

Grandma (smiling): No; in that case you would 
be a prophetess. Fortunately you are not one, as 
your prophecies would not be very agreeable to 
Louis; but I see you understand what a prophet is, 
and you have explained it very well. The prophets, 
however, predicted only what concerned the glory 
of God and the good of mankind. I was about to 
tell you that a prophet, named Jeremias, had pre- 
dicted this calamity, this horrible crime, which is 
called: "The Massacre of the Innocents." He 
had foretold that in that day there would be "lamen- 
tations and great mourning." 

You can picture this sad scene: little children 
torn from the protecting arms of their mothers, who 
were running hither and thither striving in vain to 
save their precious babies from the cruel soldiers, 
who put them to death by the sword. Thus perished 
in one day many children in Bethlehem and the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 27 

surrounding country. These little innocents were 
the first martyrs, the first to give their life for Christ, 
and we celebrate their feast after Christmas, on 
December the twenty-eighth. 

After Joseph and Mary and the Child Jesus had 
remained some time in Egypt, an angel appeared 
to Joseph in his sleep and said to him: ' 'Arise and 
take the Child and his mother and go into the land 
of Israel, for they are dead that sought the life of 
the Child." 

Jack: Did Herod repent before he died ? 

Grandma: No; he died, as he had lived, a wicked 
king. 

Joseph, who never hesitated for a moment to 
obey the commands of God, took the Child and his 
mother and set out at once for Judea. On the 
journey he learnt that Archelaus, son of Herod, had 
been made king at his father's death; and being 
afraid, Joseph retired into the province of Galilee, 
to a city called Nazareth. That Jesus should live 
in Nazareth had also been predicted by the prophets. 

And now, children, I shall tell you how the Child 
Jesus was lost in Jerusalem. 

Paul: Why, who lost the Child Jesus? 

Grandma: I shall tell you of this the next time 
we meet. 



28 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER IX. 

JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS. 

The Child Jesus lived in Nazareth with his mother 
and his foster-father, St. Joseph. As he grew older 
he worked with his father, who earned his livelihood 
as a carpenter, for the Holy Family was poor. All 
who knew the Child Jesus admired his wisdom, 
goodness, and gentleness. 

Every year at the Feast of the Pasch — 

John: What was the Feast of the Pasch ? 

Grandma: The Feast of the Pasch, or Passover, 
was the celebration by the Jewish people of their 
passage over the Red Sea, when the Lord had 
delivered them from the Egyptian bondage. 

Louis : How was the feast celebrated? 

Grandma: Each family killed a kid or a lamb, 
which was roasted whole and eaten with great 
ceremony at a family feast, to which all the relatives 
were invited. They ate standing and in traveling 
garb, staff in hand, to remind them of their long 
journey ings when God had led them from their 
captivity in Egypt to the promised land. 

The feast of the Passover lasted seven days. 
Every year Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem to 







■■■- 



r*f- 






Christ Among the Doctors 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 29 

celebrate this feast. When the Child Jesus had 
reached his twelfth year he accompanied his parents, 
as prescribed by the Jewish law. This initation of a 
child to the ceremonies of the Passover was regarded 
as an event in the family life. When the feast was 
over the visitors who had gathered in Jerusalem 
departed in family groups or caravans, each to his 
own home. Mary and Joseph set out with their 
friends and relations and did not perceive that 
Jesus was not with them, or perhaps they thought 
him in the company of his young companions, and 
his absence passed unnoticed till the band stopped 
at eventide for refreshment and rest. 

Not rinding the Child Jesus in their company they 
searched anxiously for him among the crowd of 
wayfarers, and retracing their steps to Jerusalem 
inquired eagerly of all the travelers they met. For 
three days and nights, neither eating nor drinking, 
Mary and Joseph continued their search, sorrowfully; 
but the Child Jesus was not to be found. 

Finally they entered the Temple and there they 
found the Child, " sitting in the midst of the doctors, 
hearing them and asking them questions," and ex- 
plaining to them obscure passages of the sacred 
writings so clearly that the Doctors of the Law "and 
all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and 
his answers." 

Mary and Joseph were much surprised at what 
they saw and heard, and his mother, approaching 



30 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

her Son, said to him: "Son, why hast thou done so to 
us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrow- 
ing." Jesus answered gravely: "How is it that 
you sought me? did you not know that I must be 
about my Father's business?" "And they under- 
stood not the words that he spoke to them." They 
did not know that the business which already 
occupied this Divine Child was to make men believe 
and understand that he, Jesus, was the Son of God, 
the Christ, the Messias expected by the Jewish na- 
tion. None the less Jesus, rising, followed his 
parents, for if in divine matters he obeyed his 
heavenly Father, in all else he obeyed implicity his 
mother, Mary, and St. Joseph. 

They returned to Nazareth, where they lived and 
where St. Joseph died, and the Child Jesus grew "and 
advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God 
and man." "And his mother kept all these words 
in her heart." She kept in her memory all the 
words and actions of Jesus. 

From his twelfth to his thirtieth year our Lord 
did naught but obey, work, and pray; thus becom- 
ing a living example for all Christians, and most 
especially for all children and young people. 

What child is there who will dare refuse to obey 
and to work, when the Son of God himself has left 
us such an example? 



THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST U 

St. Joseph died peacefully in the arms of Jesus and 
Mary, and for this reason he has always been re- 
garded as the patron of the dying 



32 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 
BOOK SECOND 

First Year of the Ministry of Jesus 
CHAPTER X. 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. BAPTISM OF CHRIST. 

Grandma: No doubt, my children, you remember 
that John the Baptist lived in the desert preparing 
for his mission of Precursor of Christ. He increased 
in sanctity as he grew older. He prayed unceasingly, 
and led a very penitential life, his food being of 
locusts and wild honey and his garments of camel's 
hair. At about thirty years of age he came out of 
the desert and began to preach. He spoke eloquently 
of God, of the reward of heaven, and the punish- 
ment of hell, and of the necessity of doing penance, 
and everywhere, in all the country round about the 
Jordan, he announced to all men the coming of the 
Savior. 

Many flocked to hear John, and he taught them 
to repent of their sins, and he baptized in the Jordan 
all who confessed their sins and asked for baptism. 

Louis: What is the Jordan; and how did John 
baptize. 

Grandma: The Jordan is a river which flows a 
few miles from Jerusalem. Those who wished to be 
baptized went down into the Jordan a few feet from 
the shore and John baptized them by pouring on 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 33 

their heads water from this stream. This he did 
to show the purity of heart which should be theirs- 

The people surrounded John the Baptist and 
asked of him guidance and advice. To the rich he 
said: He that hath two coats, let him give to him 
that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do 
in like manner." And to the Publicans who came 
to ask what they should do, he said; "Do nothing 
more than that which is appointed you." 

Henrietta: Who are the "Publicans;" and what 
was appointed them to do? 

Grandma: The Publicans were men employed 
by the Romans — who, as you know, were the rulers 
of Judea and of the Jews — to collect the taxes ; that 
is, the money every one was obliged to pay for the 
support of the roads, bridges, and highways. More- 
over, a portion of this money was sent to Rome for 
the use of the Emperor. 

Often these Publicans demanded of the people 
more than was due, and consequently the Jews hated 
them and called them thieves, and John was re- 
proving them for imposing on the people these 
unjust taxes. 

To the soldiers, who also asked his good counsel, 
he said. "Do violence to no man, neither ca- 
lumniate any man, and be content with your pay." 

The people who heard John found in him so much 
virtue, goodness, and wisdom that they took him 
to be the Christ, the promised Messias, whose coming 



34 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

was expected at this time as announced by the 
prophets; but John said: "There cometh after me 
one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoe I am 
not worthy to stoop down and loose. I have bap- 
tized you with water, but he shall baptize you with 
the Holy Ghost." 

King Herod, the son of the former Herod, who had 
succeeded his brother Archelaus, wished to know 
John and to hear him speak ; but instead of flattering 
the vanity of the king, and praising him, John re- 
proved him for the wicked life he was leading. This 
angered Herod, but he dared not harm John, for 
he feared him by reason of his sanctity and also 
because of the great esteem in which the people held 
him. 

About this time, after the death of Joseph, Jesus 
left Nazareth, and sought John on the banks of the 
Jordan to be baptized by him. John, who knew 
that Jesus was the Son of God, the Second Person 
of the Blessed Trinity, refused, out of reverence, to 
baptize him: "I ought to be baptized by thee, and 
comest thou tome?" John said ; and Jesus answered : 
"Suffer it to be so now, for so it becometh us to 
fulfill all justice." 

Then John refused no longer, and pouring water 
on the head of Jesus he baptized him. 

As Jesus came out of the water, suddenly the 
heavens were opened and the Holy Ghost descended 
in the form of a dove and rested on his head, and a 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 35 

voice from heaven said: "This is my beloved Son 
in whom I am well pleased." 

Henrietta: Whose voice was this ? 

Grandma: This was the voice of God the Father, 
who thus announced to the world that Jesus Christ 
was truly his only Son, both God and man. 

Jack: How old was our Lord when he was 
baptized? 

Grandma: About thirty years of age. He had 
left Nazareth and was about to start on his journey- 
ings through Judea, in order to show himself to the 
world and to instruct men in the true law which 
leads to salvation. 



36 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XL 

JESUS IN THE DESERT. THE TEMPTATION. 

Before instructing the Jews and revealing to them 
that he was truly the incarnate Son of God, our 
Lord wished to give us an example of mortification 
and penance. 

Louise: What does that mean- — mortification? 

Grandma: To mortify means to deny ourselves, 
to punish ourselves. 

Louise: And why should we punish our bodies? 
What wrong has my body done? It seems to me 
it only obeys my wishes. 

Grandma: You are mistaken. Your body has 
evil inclinations which lead you to desire things 
forbidden by God; such as laziness, gluttony, anger, 
and other evil tendencies. It is just, therefore, to 
do penance; to deny and to punish the body which 
so frequently leads us into sin. 

Henrietta: And supposed I don't do penance. 

Grandma: If we don't do penance, the good 
Lord will punish us after death, and more severely 
than we ourselves would have done. Therefore, it 
is wiser to mortify ourselves while we live that we 
may not remain long in Purgatory, where we expiate 




Temptation of Christ 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 37 

the sins for which we have not atoned in this world. 
On the other hand, if at our death our Lord finds 
in us no sins unpunished, none for which we have not 
atoned, he bids us at once to enter into the joys of 
heaven, with the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and 
saints, and to rejoice with them forever. 

As I was saying, Jesus wished to give us an ex- 
ample of mortification; for this purpose he with- 
drew into the desert. 

Louis : Was it the same desert where John lived? 

Grandma: Yes; the same, but not the same part, 
and, moreover, John had left the desert about a year 
previously. 

Mary: Where was John when Jesus went into 
the desert? 

Grandma: He was journeying from place to 
place through Judea and Galilee, proclaiming the 
advent of the Messias, in order that Jesus might find 
the people prepared to recognize and adore the 
Savior. Jesus went into the desert alone, and 
remained there fasting for forty days. 

Henrietta: Why, Grandma, that is impossible; 
he would have died of hunger! 

Grandma: If our Lord had been a man such as 
we are, he would certainly have died, and in less 
time than forty days; but do not forget that Jesus 
was God made man, and that he could and willed 
to suffer to an extraordinary degree from hunger 



38 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

and from thirst to expiate our sins of gluttony, 
sloth, indolence, and sensuality. 

Jane : What is sensuality ? 

Grandma: It is the love of all that is agreeable 
to the body; to love to eat well, to drink well, to be 
always comfortable; in a word, to love our own ease 
and to be unwilling to bear any discomfort. 

Henrietta: But I see no harm in all that. 

Grandma: At first sight this does not seem 
wrong, but in fact, when we live thus, we become 
indolent, incapable of making any sacrifice for the 
sake of duty. We think only of pleasures, of fun, 
and of spending our time in amusements. We for- 
get heaven, we forget we are sinners and have sins 
to expiate. In fact, we risk losing our souls, as 
you will see by the story of the bad rich man. 

While Jesus was in the desert, the devil, who was 
surprised and angry that he had never been able to 
make Jesus commit the smallest sin, determined to 
take advantage of the hunger and weakness of Jesus 
after his long fast and, by tempting him, lead him 
into some fault. He approached Jesus and promised 
him food, saying: "If you are the Son of God, 
command that these stones be made bread." 

Jesus answered Satan, saying: "It is written, 
not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word 
that proceedeth from the mouth of God." 

The devil, seeing he was repulsed, and in doubt 
as to whether this Jesus was the promised Messias 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 39 

who was to deliver men from his evil power, tried 
another means to discover if Jesus was man or God. 
He took him to the city of Jerusalem and placed him 
on the pinnacle of the Temple. Then he said to him : 
"If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for 
it is written: That he hath given his angels charge 
over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee 
up, lest, perhaps, thou dash thy foot against a stone." 

Jesus said to him: "It is written: Thou shalt 
not tempt the Lord thy God." 

The devil, again overcome by the wisdom of the 
answers of Jesus, tried a third time to tempt him. 
He transported him to the top of a tall mountain, 
whence he showed him in an instant all the empires 
of the world and their glory, and said to him: "All 
these will I give thee if, falling down, thou wilt 
adore me." 

Then Jesus said to him: "Begone, Satan, for it is 
written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and 
him only shalt thou serve." 

Then the devil, ashamed and baffled, withdrew, 
and the angels approached Jesus and served him. 

Paul: How glad I am that the devil left Jesus, 
but how did the angels serve him? 

Grandma: They brought him food to eat, as far 
superior to what we eat in this world as Jesus him- 
self was superior to all men and to the angels. 



40 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN. THE FIRST DISCIPLES 
OF JESUS. 

While Jesus was sustaining the struggle in the 
desert, John the Baptist continued preaching 
and baptizing along the banks of the Jordan. 
Rumors reached Jerusalem that an extraordinary 
man had appeared, and the question arose among 
the Jews whether John might not be the Messias. 
Priests and Levites were, therefore, sent to question 
him. 

Paul: Who were the Levites? 

Grandma: The Levites assisted the priests in 
the ceremonies of the Temple. They were below 
the priests in rank, as a lieutenant is below a captain, 
although both are officers. They came, therefore, 
to John, questioning him if he were the Christ. 
And he answered: "I am not the Christ;" and they 
asked him: "What then? Art thou Elias?" And 
he said: "I am not." "Art thou the prophet?" 
And he answered: "No." They said therefore to 
him: "Who art thou, that we may give an answer 
to them that sent us ? What sayest thou of thyself?" 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 41 

John answered: "I am the voice of one crying 
in the wilderness ; make straight the way of the Lord. " 

Thus John explained to them his mission of 
Precursor. They questioned him further as to 
why he baptized, since he was not the Christ, nor 
Elias, nor the prophet. John answered: "I bap- 
tize with water, but there hath stood one in the 
midst of you whom you know not; the latchet of 
whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. I saw the 
Spirit coming as a dove from heaven, and he re- 
mained upon him; he it is that baptizeth with the 
Holy Ghost. . . I saw and I gave testimony 
that this is the Son of God." 

The following day John was walking with two of 
his disciples and Jesus passed by. 

Louise: What are disciples? 

Grandma: Disciples are scholars, friends, those 
who believe in the wisdom of a master and who 
follow him, and who endeavor to make others be- 
lieve in his doctrine, that he may have many followers. 
When John saw Jesus he said: " Behold the Lamb 
of God." His two disciples hearing this left John 
and followed Jesus; and Jesus, turning and seeing 
them following him, said to them: "What seek 
you ? ' ' ' ' Master, where d wellest thou ? ' ' they asked . 
Jesus replied: "Come and see," and they followed our 
Lord to his dwelling and remained with him all that 
day. One of these first two disciples was St. John, 
who became the beloved friend of Jesus, and who 



42 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

wrote one of the four Gospels, or, as they are some- 
times called Evangels, and he is therefore called 
John the Evangelist. The other was St. Andrew. 

After this long conversation with our Lord 
Andrew met his brother Simon, a fisherman like 
himself, and he said to him; "We have found the 
Messias;" and he brought him to Jesus, and Jesus 
looking upon him said: "Thou art Simon, the Son 
of Jonas; thou shalt be called Peter." This was the 
Apostle St. Peter, who was to be Head of the church. 

The next day Jesus met Philip and he said to him : 
"Follow me!" Philip was from Bethsaida, a city 
in Galilee, and he followed Jesus with gladness, 
for he had often heard of Christ from John the 
Baptist. 

As they journeyed on Philip met his friend 
Nathaniel, who was a scribe or Doctor of the Law, 
that is to say, one well versed in the law of the 
Jewish people, and he said to him: "We have found 
him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets 
did write, Jesus the Son of Joseph of Nazareth." 
And Nathaniel said to him: "Can anything good 
come from Nazareth?" Philip's only reply was in 
the words our Lord had addressed to him: "Come 
and see!" 

Louis: Why did Nathaniel say that about 
Nazareth? 

Grandma: Because it was the opinion of tne 
learned men of Jerusalem that no prophet would 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 43 

come from the obscure town of Nazareth; and, 
moreover, Nathaniel knew that the Messias was to be 
born in Bethlehem, and thinking that Nazareth was 
the birthplace as well as the home of Jesus, he 
judged he could not be the Messias as Philip an- 
nounced. However, Nathaniel followed Philip and 
went to the Savior. 

When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming he said of him: 
"Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no 
guile." Nathaniel, greately surprised that Jesus 
should know him, asked: "Whence knowest thou 
me?" Jesus answered: "Before that Philip called 
thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." 
Now, Nathaniel knew that Jesus could not have 
seen him except by a miraculous power at the 
distance referred to; he therefore recognized Jesus 
at once as the Lord, and exclaimed with admiration : 
"Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of 
Israel!" Jesus answered and said to him: "Be- 
cause I said unto thee: I saw thee under the fig 
tree, thou belie vest; greater things than these shalt 
thou see; . . . thou shalt see the heaven opened 
and the angels of God ascending and descending 
upon the Son of Man." 

Mary: Why does our Lord say: "The Son of 
Man?" Who was the Son of Man? 

Grandma: Our Lord often spoke of himself as 
the Son of Man. First, in order to teach us humility, 
by reminding us that God had so lowered himself 



44 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

as to become man, and also to remind us that he was 
as truly man as he was truly God. To believe in 
Christ Jesus, is to believe that the Son of Man is the 
Son of God. It is to adore God made Man. 

This Nathaniel, whom Philip brought to Jesus, 
is known as the Apostle Bartholomew. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 45 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MARRIAGE FEAST AT CANA. 

Three days after our Lord and his disciples 
journeyed on to Cana, a little town in Galilee, to a 
wedding feast, to which he and his mother had been 
invited. Towards the end of the feast the wine 
gave out. The head steward told Mary, and she 
approached her Son and said to him: "They have 
no wine;" and Jesus answered: "Woman, what is 
it to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come." 

Henrietta: Why did our Lord address his mother 
as woman and answer her thus? 

Grandma: This answer was not a reproach, but 
remember that in Jesus there were two different 
natures. Jesus was the Son of God before being the 
Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary; he was God made 
Man. 

As her Son, Jesus was obedient to Mary's every 
wish; but as God he only obeyed the dictates and 
guidance of his Heavenly Father; and up to this 
time he had performed no miracles in public; as he 
said: "My hour is not yet come." 

However, at his mother's request, Jesus performed 
his first miracle. The Blessed Mother was so certain 



46 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

of the consent of her Son that, untroubled by his 
reply, she turned to the steward and waiters and 
said to them: ''Whatsoever he shall say to you, 
do ye." There were standing there six water jars 
of stone to be filled, which would serve for the 
ablutions or purification of the Jews. 

Henrietta : What are purifications ? 

Grandma: It was the custom of the Jews to 
wash mouth and hands before meals and after 
meals, and their feet as they came in, and even the 
feet of strangers and guests who entered a house. 
Therefore, standing ready were six jars. Jesus said 
to the waiters: "Fill the water pots with water." 
And they filled them up to the brim. And Jesus 
saith to them: "Draw out now, and carry to the 
chief steward of the feast." And they carried to 
him what they had drawn. When the steward 
tasted this water made wine, not knowing whence 
this delicious wine had come, he went to the bride- 
groom and said to him: "What have you done? 
Every man at first setteth forth good wine ; and when 
men have well drunk, then, that which is worse; 
but thou hast kept the good wine until now." The 
master of the house could not understand what his 
steward said to him, because he did not know of the 
miracle of Jesus; but the steward and waiters who 
had seen the miracle told every one what they had 
seen. This was the first public miracle of Jesus, 
and it increased the faith of his disciples. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 47 

Henry: Grandma, why do you say "public 
miracle;'' had Jesus performed miracles privately? 

Grandma: The Gospels do not speak of any, but 
tradition and the accounts of early writers lead us to 
believe that Jesus had performed miracles from his 
birth, before he manifested his power to the world 
at Cana of Galilee 



48 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE HUCKSTERS DRIVEN FROM THE TEMPLE 

As the Feast of the Passover was dra wiring near, 
Jesus went to Jerusalem for its celebration. As he 
entered the Temple he found, in the court of the 
sacred edifice, merchants selling doves and lambs, 
and money changers seated at their tables prepared 
to change silver and gold. Indignant at this pro- 
fanation of his Father's house, Jesus made a whip of 
cords and drove out the buyers and sellers from the 
Temple, and he overthrew the tables of the money 
changers and spilt their money on the floor; and he 
said: ''Take these things hence, and make not the 
house of my Father a house of traffic." 

The Jews, greatly angered at this action of Jesus, 
said to him: "What sign dost shou show unto us, 
seeing thou dost these things?" They questioned 
his right to exercise such authority. Jesus answered : 
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise 
it up." The Jews failed to understand that Jesus 
was not speaking of the Temple which Solomon had 
built, but of the temple of his body which would be 
rebuilt, that is, would be resuscitated, three days 
after the Jews would have put him to death. 



. '% 



-' 



. -. ■ ^ - ■ . 



{ ^$ 



Jesus Expels the Hucksters From the Temple 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 49 

After his resurrection his disciples remembered 
these words. 

While Jesus was in Jerusalem, he performed many 
miracles, and many believed in him; but Jesus, who 
could read the thoughts of men, did not trust them, 
for he knew these same Jews would put him to death 
most cruelly in a few years. Jesus left Jerusalem 
to traverse Judea, where he remained some time 
baptizing and preaching. John the Baptist was 
also baptizing, but on the other side of the Jordan. 
John's disciples grew jealous of the honor paid to 
Christ and sought him one day and said to him: 
"Master, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, 
to whom thou gavest testimony, behold he bap- 
tize th and all men come to him.'' 

John answered and said: "A man cannot receive 
anything unless it be given him from heaven. You 
yourselves do bear me witness that I said: 'I am 
not the Christ, but that I am sent before him;' " 
and John went on in a beautiful discourse, telling 
them that he was only the servant and friend of 
Jesus, who was the Lord and Master, and that they 
must follow Jesus and leave him, and that if they 
did so at his word, he would rejoice greatly, for he 
was only the fore-runner of Christ, the Messias. 

Jesus, knowing that the Jews and Pharisees were 
jealous of his power over the hearts of men and saw 
with vexation the number of disciples who came to 
him, left Judea and retired into Galilee. 



50 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SAMARITAN; OR, JESUS AT JACOB'S WEU*. 

In order to reach Galilee Jesus and his disciples 
had to pass through Samaria. As they neared the 
city of Sichem, which lay surrounded by fertile fields, 
tired after their long journey on foot, they stopped to 
rest near Jacob's well. 

Louise: Why was it called Jacob's well? 

Grandma: Because Jacob had dug and built 
this well, and he had lived nearby. These very 
fields he had given to his son, Joseph, who was sold by 
hisbrethern, of which we read in the Old Testament. 

While his disciples went into the city to buy 
provisions, Jesus, being very weary, sat on the edge 
of the well to rest. A woman of Samaria approached 
to draw water from the well, and Jesus said to her: 
"Give me to drink." 

The woman answered: "How dost thou, being 
a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan 
woman?" This she said because there was great 
hatred between the Jews and the people of Samaria. 

Jesus answered and said to her: "If thou didst 
know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to 
thee, give me to drink, thou perhaps wouldst have 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 51 

asked of him, and he would have given thee, living 
water." 

The Smaritan woman, greatly surprised, said to 
Jesus: "Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, 
and the well is deep; from whence, then, hast thou 
living water? Art thou greater than our father 
Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank thereof 
himself, and his children, and his cattle?" 

Jesus answered and said to her: "Whosoever 
drinketh of this water, shall thirst again; but he 
that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, 
shall not thirst forever." 

The Samaritan woman, perceiving that Jesus 
was not an ordinary man, said to him: "Sir, give 
me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come 
hither to draw. " 

Jesus said to her: "Go, call thy husband, and 
come hither." 

"I have no husband," answered the woman. 

"Thou hast said well, I have no husband," 
answered our Lord, "for thou hast five husbands; 
and he whom thou now hast, is not thy husband. 
This thou hast said truly." 

The Samaritan woman, amazed to see her sins thus 
known and laid bare by Jesus, said to him: "Sir, I 
perceive thou art a prophet. ... I know that 
the Messias cometh (who is called Christ) ; therefore, 
when he is come, he will tell us all things." 



52 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Jesus saith to her: "I am he who am speaking 
with thee." 

At that moment the disciples returned from their 
errand in the city, and were surprised to find Jesus 
talking with a woman. The woman left there her 
jar of water and went in great haste into the city 
and told the people of her meeting with Jesus. 
"Come," she said, "and see a man who has told me 
all things whatsoever I have done. Is he not the 
Christ?" Many followed the woman to Jacob's well. 

In the meanwhile his disciples urged Jesus to eat 
what they had brought. "Master, eat," they 
prayed him; but he said to them: "I have meat to 
eat, which you know not." 

The disciples, surprised, said to one another: 
"Hath any man brought him to eat?" 

Jesus, who knew what they were whispering, said 
to them: "My meat is to do the will of him that 
sent me, that I may perfect his work." 

The people of Samaria believed in Jesus on the 
word of the woman, and when they came to Jesus they 
begged him to remain with them. He consented 
to their appeal and remained for two days ; and after 
hearing him, many more believed in him, and they 
said to the woman: "We now believe, not for thy 
saying; for we ourselves have heard him and know 
that this is, indeed, the Savior of the world." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 53 



CHAPTER XVI. 

JESUS TEACHES IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 

Grandma: After two days spent among the 
Samaritans, Jesus resumed his journeyings to preach 
in Galilee. 

At this time Herod imprisoned John the Baptist, 
because John reproached him for the wicked life he 
was leading and for the many evil deeds of his past 
life. 

The first city of Galilee into which Jesus entered 
was the City of Nazareth, the city where he had 
lived so long with his mother and Joseph. On the 
Sabbath day Jesus entered the synagogue. 

Louis: What was a synagogue ? 

Grandma: The synagogue was like our church, 
a house of prayer, a building where the Jews gathered 
on the Sabbath day to worship God and read the 
Scriptures. 

Louis: What was the Sabbath day? 

Grandma: This was the seventh day of the week, 
which day the Jews kept, or celebrated, in the same 
manner as we do Sunday. It was a day of prayer 
and rest. 



54 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: As I was telling you, Jesus entered 
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and taking up 
one of the books of the Prophet Isaias, he began 
to read to the assembled people, and explain to 
them the Scriptures in such a wonderful manner and 
with such clearness that all gazed upon him in 
surprise and admiration. 

When he had finished reading and explaining they 
said to one another: "Is not this the son of Joseph, 
the carpenter?" And they wondered greatly at 
his wisdom and his knowledge. But when Jesus 
began to speak to them of their blindness of heart, 
and to reproach them because they did not believe 
in him who had lived among them, they grew very 
angry, and rising up they drove Jesus out of the 
synagogue and out of the city to the top of the 
mountain on which their town was built. 

They thought to thrust him over this height and 
kill him, but Jesus miraculously passed through the 
crowd and "went on his way." 

Jack: How was it that the Jews let Jesus escape 
when they wanted to kill him? 

Grandma: Because, by his almighty power, our 
Lord made himself invisible to the angry crowd 
around him. 

Madeleine : Why did they not believe in our Lord, 
since they had witnessed his many miracles? 

Grandma: Because they did not wish to believe. 
Their pride revolted at the thought that they would 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 55 

have to recognize as their master and God, a poor 
carpenter, without fortune, without glory, lacking 
in all that they expected from the Messias. The 
Messias, they thought, would help them to conquer 
the other nations of the earth, and make them, the 
Jews, the rulers of the world. 

However, there were some faithful ones in Nazareth 
who believed in him. 



56 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XVII. 

JESUS HEALS THE SON OF THE RULER. 

Grandma: Leaving the ungrateful City of Naza- 
reth, Jesus proceeded to Capernaum, where he 
preached to the people penance and forgiveness of 
sins, and announced that the kingdom of heaven 
was at hand. Leaving Capernaum, Jesus journ- 
eyed to a city near by, called Cana of Galilee. Here 
there hastened to him an officer whose son lay ill 
at Capernaum, and who, learning that Jesus had 
arrived *o?ind him and begged him to cure his son, 
who lay ill unto death. 

In answer to his prayer, Jesus said: "Unless 
you see signs and wonders, you believe not." 

But the officer besought him the more earnestly 
to cure his beloved son, saying: "Lord, come down 
before my poor little one dies." 

Then our Lord, pitying his sorrow, said to him: 
"Go thy way; thy son liveth." The man believed 
the word which Jesus said to him, and went his way. 

The next day as the officer drew near his home, 
the servants met him and announced to him that 
his son lived. Immediately he asked at what hour 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 57 

the boy grew better. " Yesterday," they replied, 
"at the seventh hour the fever left him." 

The father knew, then, that it was at the very 
same hour that Jesus had said to him: "Thy son 
liveth;"and he believed in our Lord, he, and all his 
household. 



58 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

JESUS CALLS PETER AND ANDREW. 

Grandma: Jesus continued journeying in Galilee, 
following the shores of the sea. 

Henrietta: On what sea was the shore of Galilee? 

Grandma: On the borders of the Mediterranean, 
to the west, but, on the opposite side, to the east, 
lay another sea, the Lake of Tiberias. This lake 
was so large that it was called the sea of Galilee. 
It was on the shores of this sea that Jesus met Simon, 
whom he afterwards surnamed Peter, and Andrew 
his brother. 

These men were casting their nets in the sea, for 
they were fishermen, and Jesus said to them; "Follow 
me." "And they immediately, leaving their nets, 
followed him;" proving thus to our Lord, by their 
prompt obedience to his call, that they believed in 
him and were eager to consecrate to him their time 
and their life. 

Going a little further, our Lord saw in a boat 
James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, 
mending their nets, for they, too, were fishermen. 
Jesus called them, and at once, "leaving their nets 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 59 

and their father, Zebedee, in the ship with his hired 
men, they followed him." 

Jane : And they left their father ? 

Grandma: They left their father to obey the call 
of their Lord and Master to his service. They should 
be to us an example of the ready and prompt 
obedience with which we should always follow the 
will of God. 



60 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XIX. 

JESUS CURES THE DEMONIAC. 

Grandma: In the company of his disciples, 
Jesus journeyed to Capernaum. On the Sabbath 
day he taught in the synagogue, and spoke with such 
power and wisdom that all were in amazement at 
his teaching. That day there was in the syna- 
gogue a poor, wretched man possessed of the devil, 
who, seeing Jesus, uttered a great cry, saying: 
"Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, Jesus 
of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?" "I 
know thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." 

Jesus threatened the devil, who spoke through the 
mouth of this man, and said to him: "Speak no 
more, and go out of the man." 

And the evil one, having thrown the man upon the 
ground, went out of him, and the man was cured. 

Every one was frightened and in consternation, 
and they said to one another: "What does this 
mean; he commands even the devils and they obey 
him?" And the fame of Jesus spread all over the 
country. 

Jesus performed many other miracles in Caper- 
naum. Peter's mother-in-law was ill with a fever 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 61 

and Jesus, taking her by the hand, commanded the 
fever to leave her. She rose from her bed cured, and 
served Jesus and his disciples their noonday meal. 

After sunset, in the cool of the evening, a crowd 
of sick people came, or were brought by others, to 
Jesus to be cured by him; "and laying his hands 
on every one of them, he healed them." At his 
word of command, the devils left those whom they 
possessed, "crying out: . . . Thou art the Son 
of God." But Jesus forbid the evil spirits to say 
he was the Christ. 

Elizabeth: What does that mean, to be possessed 
of the devil? Does it mean to be very bad? 

Grandma: No; a demoniac, or possessed person, 
is one whose body is in the possession of the devil, 
who rules over him and makes him do evil actions, 
against his will. Such a person is, therefore, not 
responsible. 

Henry: Are persons possessed of the devil 
nowdays? 

Grandma: In countries where our Lord is known 
and loved it is very rarely seen. 



62 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 

Grandma: The next day, at dawn, Jesus left the 
house and went to a desert place, where he was in 
the habit of praying alone. 

Simon and his other disciples found our Lord, 
where he had withdrawn to pray, and said to him: 

"Every one is looking for you." And Jesus 
answered: "Let us go into the neighboring towns 
and cities, that I may preach there also, for to this 
purpose am I come." 

Jesus set out, therefore, to journey through Galilee, 
teaching in the synagogues and preaching the 
kingdom of God. 

Jack: And what is the kingdom of God? 

Grandma: The kingdom of God is heaven, where 
our Lord dwells and reigns ; but it is also the human 
soul, in which he reigns on earth. Thus each 
separate soul is his kingdom when we, his creatures, 
lead a good and holy life, obedient to his law. 

Our Lord taught the people how to enter into this 
kingdom; and he cured their sick and all who were 
afficted. The good tidings of these cures soon spread 
over the whole of Syria. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 63 

Valentine: How did the news spread in Syria; 
I thought our Lord was in Galilee? 

Grandma: Galilee is in Palestine, and Syria is 
north of Palestine, quite near. In a short time all 
Syria knew the miracles of Jesus, and they brought 
to him their sick and infirm, those who were possessed, 
who were paralyzed, who were blind, deaf, and dumb; 
and he cured them all. A great multitude of people 
followed him wherever he went — people from Galilee 
and the neighboring countries. 

One day on the shores of the lake of Genesareth — 

Louis: Where was the lake of Genesareth? 

Grandma: The lake of Genesareth was the same 
as the sea of Tiberias. Genesareth, like Tiberias, 
was a town built on the shores of the sea of Galilee, 
to which it gave its name, Tiberias. Our Lord was 
walking on this shore surrounded by a crowd of 
people who, eager to hear the word of God, so pressed 
and crowded around him that, seeing two boats 
anchored nearby — which the fishermen had left in 
order to mend their nets — Jesus stepped into Simon 
Peter's boat and begged him to row out a little from 
the shore. And sitting in the boat Jesus taught the 
people. 

When he had finished speaking, our Lord said to 
Simon: "Push out into deeper water. Cast ovei 
your nets for the fish. ' ' 

"Master, Simon answered, we have labored all 
the night without taking anything, but at your word 



64 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

I will cast the net." Simon Peter cast his nets, and 
when he drew them up they were so heavy and full 
of fishes that the cords of the nets were breaking. 
He called to his aid the men in the neighboring bark, 
and when they drew out the nets and landed the 
fishes, there was such a great quantity that the two 
barks were filled to overflowing and almost sinking. 

Seeing this miracle, Simon Peter threw himself 
at the feet of Jesus, saying: " Depart from me, O 
Lord, for I am a sinful man." 

Louis: I think Simon Peter was very wrong to 
speak so to our Lord, who had been so good to him 
and cured his mother-in-law. 

Madeleine: Then Simon Peter was married? 

Grandma: Yes; Peter was married and had a 
daughter named Petronilla ; but he left his home and 
family to follow our Lord. As to what Peter said 
to Jesus, it was not wrong, as little Louis thinks; 
on the contrary, it was virtuous. Peter was speaking 
through humility. This miraculous draught of 
fishes had revealed to him, more than any miracle 
before witnessed, that Jesus Christ was God, the 
Creator of all things, and he did not consider himself 
worthy to receive him in his poor fisherman's bark. 
But Jesus said to him: 

"Be not afraid; hereafter you shall be fishers of 
men." 

Jack: How could that be; we don't fish for men 
as we do for fish? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 65 

At this the children and even Grandma laughed. 

Grandma: By those words our Lord meant that, 
instead of spending his time in casting his net for 
fish, Simon Peter was to devote his life to preaching 
and teaching the people what they should believe 
and know, and that in this way he would draw men 
away from the power of the evil one to give them to 
the service of God. 

Simon Peter and James and John, the son of 
Zebedee, who were with Simon, rowed back to the 
shore; and they left their boats, their oars, their 
nets, and followed Jesus. 

Up to this time they had believed in Jesus and 
were his disciples, but they were not always with 
him. They divided their time between him and 
their families; but now, 'leaving all things, they 
followed Jesus." 



66 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE CURING OF THE LEPER. 

Grandma: Last month, my children, I told you 
of many interesting miracles performed by our Lord, 
especially that of the miraculous draught of fishes. 

After this miracle, Jesus continued journeying 
from town to town, preaching and teaching the 
Jews the law of God and making himself known to 
them. One day, as he entered the city of Galilee, 
a man covered with leprosy — 

Paul: What is leprosy? 

Grandma: Leprosy is a disease of the skin; a 
terrible malady, most painful and most repulsive, 
and so contagious that the lepers, those afflicted 
with this disease, were forbidden to live with other 
people. They lived together, apart from every one, 
outside of the city gates, and were not allowed to 
touch or even draw near to those in health. What 
these poor afflicted ones required for their food and 
clothing was left where they could find it, but they 
never communicated with their friends and families. 

Jesus, seeing this poor leper standing at a distance, 
not daring to draw near, but kneeling before him, 
his face on the ground, saying: "Lord, if thou 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 67 

wilt, thou canst make me clean," was moved with 
pity. "Stretching forth his hand, Jesus touched 
him, saying: I will, be thou cleansed/ ' And 
immediately the leprosy departed from him and he 
was cured. "Jesus said to him: See thou tell no 
man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer 
the gift which Moses commanded." This our Lord 
told him to do, that he might show his gratitude and 
prove to the priest beyond a doubt that he was 
healed of his disease. 

As soon as the man left Jesus, he began to publish 
far and wide the miracle wrought on him, so that 
it began to be known everywhere, and Jesus could 
not show himself in that city without being surroun- 
ded by a crowd of people, coming from all parts of 
the country to be cured by him and to hear him. 
But Jesus tried to avoid the crowd, and withdrew 
into the desert to pray. 

Jack: Why did Jesus forbid the leper to tell of 
his cure? 

Grandma: To give us an example of humility; 
to show us we must not seek praise and honor, and 
also because Jesus wished to continue his work of 
preaching and healing quietly without commotion. 
Jesus knew that if his fame spread over the country, 
the High Priests and Pharisees would seek his death ; 
and though he had come on this earth to die for man's 
redemption, his mission here on earth was not yet 
accomplished. 



68 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Henrietta: Grandma, what does redemption, or 
to redeem, mean ? 

Grandma: To redeem means to buy back, to 
purchase. 

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin and 
so fell into the power of the evil one, and through 
them all their descendants, that is all men, are born 
slaves of sin. 

Jesus by his sufferings and death redeemed us, 
bought us back at the price of his blood, from the 
power of Satan, and thus gave us all the possibility 
of being eternally happy with him in the kingdom 
of heaven, if we follow his law while on earth. 

Henrietta: I think I understand. It is as if I 
were a king, and one of my subjects owed me some 
money. He refuses to pay , so I put him in prison — 
him and his whole family; but my son is grieved and 
pays the debt, and so I open the prison door and the 
man and his family are free. 

Grandma: That was very well explained. I 
have only one thing to add. The king would say 
to his subject: The door is open, you are free; but 
if you do not leave your prison, the door will be 
closed again for all time and you will be a prisoner 
eternally. According to Henrietta's example, man's 
debt is sin; the king is the good God; the prison is 
this life of trial and sufferings and no hope of eternal 
salvation; the son is Jesus Christ, our Savior, who 
pays our debt by his death, and the door of our 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 69 

prison is opened; we may enter heaven if we will 
leave sin. If we will not leave the slavery of sin 
while on this earth, the door of the prison will be 
shut, and we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven, 
but remain in hell, prisoners of satan for all eternity. 



70 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE CAUJNG OF MATTHEW. 

Jesus continued teaching the people who came 
in crowds to hear him. One day, as he was passing 
in the street, "he saw a man sitting in the custom- 
house named Matthew." He was the collector of 
taxes. 

Henrietta: What are taxes? 

Grandma: The taxes were charges of money 
imposed upon the Jews by the Romans, which they 
were obliged to pay their governor. Jesus said to 
Matthew: "Follow me. And leaving all things, 
he rose up and followed him." St. Matthew joined 
the band of the followers of Jesus and never left him, 
and later in life wrote the story of Jesus which I am 
now relating to you. 

Henrietta: I thought St. John wrote the life of 
our Lord. 

Grandma : St. John also wrote the life of Christ — 
or the Gospel as it is called — as did St. Luke and 
St. Mark. All four accounts of the life of Jesus have 
been carefully preserved. What one relates is, 
sometimes, not told by the others ; but they all wrote 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 71 

what they had seen or heard, or what others told 
who had witnessed the life of Christ. They wrote 
under the guidance of the Spirit of God, who spoke 
to them interiorly. 

Matthew or Levi, for he is known under both 
names, gave a great feast to Jesus in his own house. 

There was at this festival a large number of 
publicans. This angered the Pharisees and Scribes 
who were also invited, because they thought them- 
selves superior to the publicans, and they murmured 
saying to the disciples; "Why do you eat and 
drink with publicans and sinners?" 

"Jesus hearing this, said to them: They that are 
well have no need of a physician, but they that are 
sick, for I came not to call the just, but sinners." 

John: I don't understand what our Lord meant. 

Grandma: Our Lord meant that if the publicans 
were ill of soul, that is to say, if they were wicked, 
he came on this earth for them especially; to cure 
them, and to make them good and pure. Just as a 
physician does not take care of those who are well, 
but of those who are ill. 

He gave them to understand that he had come 
to forgive, not to punish. He had come upon this 
earth, not only for the good and just who followed 
his law, but also to draw to himself the. dinners of the 
whole world. 



72 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE HEALING OF THE PARALYTIC. 

A few days later Jesus returned to Capernaum, 
the city which he had chosen as his dwelling place. 
As soon as the people heard in which house he dwelt, 
they came in crowds to hear him. 

So great was the multitude that the house could 
not hold the people and they crowded around the 
door-way. Among the crowd were many Phari- 
sees and doctors of the law, from every part of 
Galilee, from Judea, and even Jerusalem, to hear our 
Lord, and, if possible, find fault with his speech and 
bear witness against him. 

Jack: What fault could they find with Jesus, 
who was doing good to all and harming no one. 

Grandma: They failed, indeed, to find any fault 
in our Lord ; and this angered them, for they sought 
every means to accuse him before the Roman 
governor. Jesus often reproached them for their 
pride, harshness, and hypocrisy, which increased 
their anger. 

One day, when our Lord was addressing this 
multitude, "they brought to him a man sick of the 
palsy, lying on a bed, carried by four men." The 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 73 

crowd was so great they could not enter the house 
to approach Jesus and lay before him their burden, 
but full of hope and faith, they would not be turned 
back. "They went up upon the roof, and opening it 
they let him down through the tiles with his bed," 
right in the midst of the crowd at the feet of Jesus. 

Louis: What! they were allowed to tear down 
the roof? 

Grandma: In that country the houses are only 
one story high and the roofs are flat and made of 
large tiles, one laid beside the other, so that a portion 
of the roof could easily be uncovered without 
destroying the house. 

"Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick 
of the palsy: Be of good heart, son, thy sins are 
forgiven thee." 

Then the Pharisees and scribes said to one another * 
"Why doth this man speak thus? He blasphemeth. 
Who can forgive sins but God alone?" "And 
Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you 
think evil in your hearts?" 

"Which is easier, to say: Thy sins are forgiven 
thee, or to say: Arise and walk?" "But that you 
may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth 
to forgive sins; then said he to the man sick of the 
palsy : Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house." 

"And immediately he arose, and taking up his 
bed went his way in the sight of all." 



74 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

The crowd was greatly astonished at this great 
miracle, "and glorified God saying: We never saw 
the like." 

Jane: Grandma, you say the Pharisees accused 
Jesus of blaspheming. What does that mean, to 
blaspheme ? 

Grandma: To blaspheme is to say irreverent 
things; things that are disrespectful to God and 
against holy things. 

Jack: Jesus had said nothing disrespectful to 
God. 

Grandma: Most certainly not, but in performing 
this miracle, he had also forgiven the sick man his 
sins. God alone, as you know, can forgive sin, 
as the Pharisees said. Our Lord's words plainly 
said to them: I am God, therefore I forgive sin 
and cure this man. The Pharisees could not endure 
the thought that Jesus should be recognized as God, 
and that he should prove his divinity by his miracles. 
They wanted a Messias who would be a king, power- 
ful and glorious, who would subject the whole world 
to the Jewish nation. They refused to believe that 
Christ was the Son of God, with the power of God 
to forgive men their sins. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 75 
THIRD BOOK 

Second Year of the Ministry of Jesus 
CHAPTER XXIV. 

SECOND YEAR OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS. THE 
POOL OF BETHESDA. 

Grandma: A short while afterwards Jesus came 
to Jerusalem for the festival season. At Jerusalem 
there is a pool of water called Bethesda, which name 
means "The House of Mercy.' ' 

This pond was surrounded on all sides by porches 
where lay a crowd of sick, infirm, and cripples, who 
came here to be healed. "An angel of the Lord 
descended at certain times into the pond, and the 
water was moved." And he that went down first 
into the pool after the motion of the water was cured 
of his disease. 

Among these sick people was a poor paralyzed 
man who had been helpless for thirty-nine years. 
Jesus seeing him lying upon the ground, and know- 
ing he had been a cripple for so long a time, had pity 
on him and said to him: "Wilt thou be made 
whole?" The infirm man answered him: "Sir, 
I have no man when the water is troubled to put 
me into the pond. For whilst I am coming, another 
goeth down before me." Jesus saith to him : "Arise 
take up thy bed and walk. And immediately 



76 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

the man was made whole; and he took up his bed 
and walked." "And it was the Sabbath that day. ' 
M The Jews, therefore, said to him that was healed: 
It is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for thee to take 
up thy bed/' 

Jack: How foolish those Jews were. Why did 
they not allow the poor man to carry his bed ? 

Grandma: Because, according to the Jewish 
law, it was forbidden to carry burdens on the Sab' 
bath day. 

The paralytic answered. "He that made me 
whole he said to me: Take up thy bed and walk." 

The Jews asked him, therefore: "Who is that 
man who said to thee : Take up thy bed and walk ?' ' 

"But he who was healed knew not who it was," 
for Jesus, after curing the man, had slipped away 
from the crowd unnoticed. 

Shortly after this Jesus found this man in the 
Temple, where he had doubtless gone to return 
thanks, and Jesus said to him: "Behold thou art 
made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing 
happen to thee." Then the man went to the Jews 
and told them that it was Jesus who had cured him. 

Instead of recognizing from all these miracles that 
Jesus was the promised Messias, who was to save all 
men, the Jews persecuted him because he healed 
on the Sabbath day, and because he declared him- 
self the Son of God, equal to God, and God himself, 
they sought to put him to death. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 77 

"Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say 
unto you, the Son cannot do anything of himself, 
but what he seeth the Father doing, for what things 
soever he doth, the Son also doth in like manner/' 
"For as the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth 
life, so the Son also giveth life to whom he will. For 
neither doth the Father judge any man, but hath 
given all judgement to the Son, that all men may 
honor the Father. He who honoreth not the Son 
honoreth not the Father who hath sent him/' 
"Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he who heareth 
my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath 
life everlasting/' 

Elizabeth: How beautiful are these words of our 
Lord, yet I do not understand them all. 

Grandma: No one understands them fully, they 
are divine words which express many things we 
cannot comprehend. But what we can all under- 
stand is this : That our Lord here declared before all 
men his divinity. He told them plainly that they 
must believe he was the Son of God, equal to the 
Father, and that they did not know the true God 
when they refused to believe in him, Christ Jesus, 
who had come upon this earth, and who was true 
God and true man. Jesus continued saying to 
them many beautiful things, that he might convince 
them that he was truly God made man. And he 
told them that he spoke not for his own glory, but 



78 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

for the glory of God, his Father, and the happiness 
and salvation of all men. 

But the Jews were as if deaf and blind, they would 
not believe his words nor his miracles, and they 
continued to seek occasions to find him in fault and 
to put him to death. 

Jack: How I hate those Jews, they are so 
wicked. 

Grandma: You will see how they grew more 
wicked, and how in the end they put our Lord to 
death most cruelly, he who was their God and Savior. 

Valentine: We would never have been that 
wicked. 

Grandma: Oh, yes; there are millions of people 
to-day who act as did those Jews nineteen hundred 
years ago. To-day God made man is not persecuted, 
because he is no longer visibly here on earth; but 
Christ is insulted by words and deeds which are 
against his law. Men crucify him anew by their 
evil will and base thoughts and desires, and by 
actions that are sinful. 

How often in the past, and even to-day, do we 
not find men persecuting the disciples of Christ, the 
priests; his faithful servants, the Christians; and 
even his representative on earth, our Holy Father, 
the Pope. And we ourselves, my children, when 
we fail to do our duty, we insult our dear Lord and 
act as did the Jews who so ill-treated him. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 79 

Little Louis: Oh, my, my; I certainly am soiry 
I ever was bad. I shall try and be good always. 

Grandma: Yes, my dear little children, let us all 
resolve not to be like the Jews, but let us be always 
full of love and gratitude towards the good Lord 
Jesus and serve him faithfully all the days of our life. 



80 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 

Grandma: To-day I have to relate to you another 
miracle performed by Jesus. One day our Lord 
entered the synagogue and began to teach the 
people. Standing near him was a man who had a 
withered hand; an affliction caused by some illness 
or by an accident. 

The Doctors of the Law and the Pharisees who 
were, as I told you, always seeking occasion to accuse 
Jesus, watched our Lord sharply to see if he would 
heal this man on the Sabbath day. But Jesus, 
knowing their thoughts, said to them: "What man 
shall there be among you that hath one sheep, and 
if the same fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will 
he not take hold on him and lift it up?" 

"Therefore, it is lawful to do a good deed on the 
Sabbath day." Then he told the man who had the 
withered hand to stand up in the midst of them all, 
and turning to the Pharisees and Doctors of the Law 
he said to them: "It is lawful to do good on the 
Sabbath day, or to do evil ; to save life, or to destroy?" 

They dared not reply a word; then Jesus looked 
at them with indignation, and saddened at the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 81 

blindness of their hearts, he said to the afflicted man: 
"Stretch forth thy hand, and he stretched it forth 
and his hand was restored unto him." 

The Pharisees were very angry, but they dared 
not blame him before the people, and going out 
of the synagogue they consulted together how they 
might have him put to death. 

Little Louis: Grandma, what does blindness of 
heart mean? How can a heart be blind, when it 
has no eyes? 

Grandma: This does not mean literally that the 
heart can't see. We say "blindness of heart" to 
express the evil feelings of the heart, which blind 
it or prevent it from seeing or understanding the 
evil that we do. 

Henrietta: Don't you know, Louis, when any one 
says to you: "You see you are wrong," you don't 
see with your eyes, but you feel you are wrong. 

Little Louis: Oh, yes; now I understand. 



82 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

JESUS CHOOSES HIS TWELVE APOSTLES. 

Grandma: After this miracle, our Lord with- 
drew on a mountain nearby, where he spent the 
night in prayer, as he was accustomed to do often. 

Louis: Why did our Lord pray? To whom did 
he pray, since he was God and all powerful? 

Grandma: It is true that he was God, but he was 
God made man. Do not forget that he had come 
upon this earth in the form of a man in order that 
his whole life on this earth might be an example to us. 
As a man he prayed and honored his Father, to show 
us how we should pray and worship God, our Father 
in heaven. 

Moreover, our Lord, true God and true man, 
prayed in very truth as we pray. He adored his 
Father kneeling and his hands clasped even as we do. 
Christ worshipped and prayed for the needs of the 
whole world, and his prayer was more perfect and 
beautiful than we can understand. 

Having prayed all night, when day dawned, Jesus 
called his disciples to him and "from among them he 
chose out twelve, to whom he gave the name of 
Apostles." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 83 

Jane: What are Apostles? 

Grandma: Apostle means "one sent." Jesus 
called them thus, because he was to send them into 
other countries, to other nations, to preach his 
commandments and to make known his coming. 
These twelve Apostles were: Simon, whom Jesus 
surnamed Peter, James, the Son of Zebedee, and 
John his brother, Andrew, Matthew, Jude, Philip, 
Thomas, Simon the Cananean, Bartholomew, James, 
the son of Alpheus, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed 
him. 

Henry: Since he was to betray him, why did 
our Lord choose him for an Apostle ? 

Grandma: When our Lord called him to be an 
Apostle, Judas was good and full of zeal. He grew 
wicked later on, because he neglected the favors and 
graces Christ showered upon him. He loved riches, 
and became mean and selfish. In choosing him our 
Lord showed us that even the best among us must 
watch and fight our evil inclinations, lest we become 
wicked like Judas Iscariot. 






84 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

Grandma: It was springtime in Judea; the lilies 
were blooming in the fields, the vines and the fig 
trees were green upon the hills, and the birds were 
singing. A great crowd had followed Jesus, and 
seating himself upon the hilltop, while the people 
crowded in the plain, some sitting on the grass, some 
standing, he spoke to them in a beautiful discourse, 
which is known as "the Sermon on the Mount." I 
shall tell you some of the beautiful things Christ 
spoke to this multitude: "Blessed," he said, "are 
the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ' ' 

Henrietta: What does poor in spirit mean? 

Grandma: The poor in spirit are those who do 
not seek for greater wealth and gain, and who do not 
set their hearts and mind on riches, and wish all 
power for themselves. "Blessed are they that 
weep; for they shall be comforted." By these 
words our Lord means that they will be comforted 
who patiently and with courage bear the sorrows 
and trials of this life. "Blessed are the meek; for 
they shall possess the land." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 85 

Paul: What land — all the earth? 

Grandma: Jesus here promises heaven, the land 
promised to the good, and also that, in this world, 
gentleness and meekness will be rewarded by the 
love that they always inspire. For the gentle and 
meek win the hearts of the people of all lands, and 
soften even the hearts of the wicked. 

Jesus continued: "Blessed are they that hunger 
and thirst after justice ; for they shall have their fill.'* 

Henrietta: What means to hunger and thirst 
after justice? 

Grandma : This means to desire justice as ardently 
as we desire to eat and to drink when we are hungry 
and thirsty. Justice is all that is right and good in 
the sight of God. 

"Blessed are the mirciful; for they shall obtain 
mercy." To be merciful means to forgive. They 
are blessed who forgive readily all injuries, and who 
have compassion on the unfortunate, and who com- 
fort and console the afflicted. 

"Blessed are the pure of heart; for they shall see 
God." 

Paul: What is pure of heart? 

Grandma: Pure means clean; they are blessed 
whose hearts are washed clean of every evil thought 
and desire. "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they 
shall be called the children of God." The peacemakers 
are those who strive to make peace, who avoid dis- 
putes and quarrels, and who yield rather than argue. 



86 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And now Jesus said: "Blessed are they that suffer 
persecution for justice' sake; for theirs is the king- 
dom of heaven." This is the last of the eight 
beatitudes, as these promises of our Lord, begin- 
ning with the word "blessed," are called. Beati- 
tude means happiness, blessedness. 

Our Lord added : ' ' Blessed are ye when they shall 
revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is 
evil against you, untruly, for my sake." 

Jane: Why does Jesus say "for my sake?" 

Grandma: In all ages, through the wickedness 
of men, many have been called upon to suffer per- 
secution because of Jesus, or for his sake. For ex- 
ample, the martyrs who were cruelly put to death 
because they would not deny their faith in Jesus 
Christ as their Lord and God. The souls of these 
martyrs at their death enter heaven at once, and so 
they are blessed indeed. And, therefore, Jesus 
added: "Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is 
very great in heaven." 

Camille: How different our Lord's teaching is 
from what we hear around us in the world. They 
are called blessed and happy who have wealth and 
fine positions and nothing to suffer. 

Grandma: And the world would be right, if 
there was not another life in heaven or in hell. For 
we Christians know that when we leave this earth 
there is an eternity waiting for us; therefore, that 
those things only are good and blessed which pre- 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 87 

pare our souls for heaven, and that those things, 
however good they may appear, which lead our souls 
to evil, are a real misfortune to us. Jesus spoke at 
great length, but you are too young to understand 
all he said. Those of you who wish to know more 
of this beautiful discourse, can read St. Matthew's 
Gospel, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters. What you 
can understand I shall tell you in our Lord's words. 

"Woe to you that are rich, for you have your 
consolation." 

"Woe to you that are filled, for you shall hunger." 

Jack: Does our Lord mean we should not be 
rich, nor eat, nor drink? 

Grandma: We may be wealthy, but we must not 
love riches so much that we keep our wealth for 
ourselves only. We must share our good things 
with the needy. Neither must we be greedy, eager 
for dainty food, while we refuse bread to the poor. 
If we do, we shall have to suffer in the other world 
to atone and expiate our gluttony and avarice. 

Our Lord continued speaking to the people who 
surrounded him: "You have heard that it was said 
to them of old : Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever 
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But 
I say to you that whosoever is angry with his 
brother shall be in danger of the judgment. And 
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in 
danger of the council. And whosoever shall say. 
Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." 



88 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Louis: Is Raca a very bad word? 

Grandma: Raca was an expression of great 
contempt. Our Lord desires to show us plainly how 
wrong it is to abuse others; to despise and to be 
angry with them. 

Little Louis: Our Lord says we must not abuse 
our brothers, but I suppose it is not wrong to quarrel 
with our cousins. 

Grandma: Oh, yes; for our Lord, in saying 
brother, means all men — for we are all brothers, 
because God is Father to us all. The poorest man 
is your brother, for, like you, he is a child of God and 
a brother of Christ Jesus. 

Jesus added: "If, therefore, thou offer thy gift 
at the alter, and there thou remember that thy 
brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy 
offering before the alter, and go first to be reconciled 
to thy brother; and then coming thou shalt offer 
thy gift." "If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck 
it out and cast it from thee; and if thy right hand 
scandalize thee, cut it off and cast it from thee." 

Louis: This seems to me very hard to obey. 

Grandma: Our Lord does not mean literally 
that we must tear out our eyes and cut off our hands, 
but he means that if a thing or a person, to whom we 
may be as attached as we are to our eyes and hands, 
should lead us into sin, we must leave it, separate 
ourselves from it, whatever the separation may 
cost us. Our Lord often spoke in parables. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 89 

Paul: What are parables? 

Grandma: A parable means a comparison, a 
story, which so closely resembles what we wish to 
teach, that it helps us to make our meaning clear. 

Jesus continued; "I say to you do not swear at 
all, neither by the earth nor by heaven . . . Let 
your speech be: 'This is so;' 'That is not so;' 
'yes;' 'no.' Everything which is more than this 
comes from an evil source." You have heard that 
it has been said: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a 
tooth/' 

Jack: What does that mean? 

Grandma: In those days revenge was not for- 
bidden by the old Jewish law. If any one injured 
his neighbor, his enemy rendered him evil for evil 
injury for injury. Jesus taught a very different law, 
for he said: "I say to you not to resist evil, but if 
one strike thee on the right cheek, turn to him also the 
other. . . . And if a man will take away thy 
coat, let go thy cloak also. . . . And whoso- 
ever will force thee one mile go with him two more." 

Elizabeth: Grandma, are we obliged to do all 
this? 

Grandma: These words of our Lord are counsels, 
advice, not commands. We are obliged to follow 
the spirit of these counsels, which is to bear injury 
patiently and to show charity to all men. 

Jesus continued. "You have heard: 'Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy. But I 



90 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

say to you: Love your enemies, do good to them 
that hate you ; and pray for them that persecute and 
calumniate you. That you may be the children of 
your Father who is in heaven, who maketh the sun 
to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the 
just and the unjust." "And if you salute your 
brethern only, what do you more? Do not the 
heathen this?" "Be you, therefore, perfect as also 
your heavenly Father is perfect." 

Valentine: What are heathens? 

Grandma: Heathens are those who do not know 
the true God, and who have made for themselves 
false gods and images of false gods, which they adore 
instead of the true God. They are also called 
idolaters, because these images are called idols. 

Henrietta: Grandma, Jesus says we must be 
perfect as God is perfect. We can never be as perfect 
as he. 

Grandma: No; we cannot be as perfect as the 
good God, but we can and must strive to become 
perfect; doing always all we can to please God, by 
taking Jesus Christ as our model. 

And, continued Jesus: "Take heed that you do 
not your justice before men, to be seen by them; 
otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father 
who is in heaven." "Therefore, when thou dost any 
almsdeed, let not thy left hand know what thy right 
hand doth." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 91 

Louis: How can a hand know or not know what 
is done? A hand can't think. 

Grandma: Our Lord here teaches us that we 
must not do our good deeds to be seen by men, that 
they may praise us; for their praise would be our 
only reward; but to be seen only by our Father in 
heaven, who will reward us. 



92 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE "OUR FATHER." 

Grandma: And Jesus taught the multitude how 
they should pray, saying: "And when you pray, 
you shall not be as hypocrites that love to stand and 
pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, 
that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, 
they have received their reward." "But thou, 
when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and 
having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret; 
and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee." 

Our Lord here w T arns us again not to do good in 
order to be seen by men. When we go to church, 
which is the house of God, we must not go, as the 
hypocrites do, to be seen. And, continued Jesus: 
"When you pray, speak not much, as the heathens 
do." . . . "Thus, therefore, shall you pray: 
"Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we for- 
give those who trespass against us. And lead us 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 93 

not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.' 
Amen." 

Jane: But that is the Our Father which we say 
every day! 

Grandma: Yes, it is the beautiful prayer called 
the Our Father, because of these two words with 
which it begins. 

Jane: I never knew Jesus had made that prayer. 

Grandma: Yes, Christ Jesus made the Our 
Father to teach how we should pray and what we 
should ask of God. It is the most beautiful and 
wonderful prayer in the world. It could not be 
otherwise, since it was made by God himself. And 
to impress upon us the duty of forgiveness, Jesus 
added: "If you will forgive men their offences, 
your heavenly Father will forgive you also your 
offences. But if you will not forgive men, neither 
will your Father forgive you your offences. " So you 
see, children, how good it is that we sometimes have 
cause to forgive our neighbor, because by our for- 
giveness of injuries done to us, we ourselves obtain 
mercy from our Father in heaven. And Jesus said: 
"Lay not up to yourselves treasurers on earth: 
where the rust and moth consume, and where 
thieves break through and steal. But lay up for 
yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither the 
rust nor the moth doth consume, not the thieves 
break through, nor steal." 



94 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Louis: What treasures must we collect for 
ourselves? 

Grandma: Prayer, almsgiving, acts of charity 
and humility, and gentleness and obedience, which 
are treasures in God's sight; the only gifts we can 
offer him and which no one can take from us. "There- 
fore," said Jesus, "be not solicitous for your life, 
what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall 
put on. . . . Behold the birds of the air, for 
they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into 
barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. 
Are not you of much more value than they? . . . 
Be not solicitous therefore, saying: What shall we 
eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall 
we be clothed? . . . For your Father knoweth 
that you need all these things. Seek ye therefore 
first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all 
these things shall be added unto you." Here our 
Lord teaches that while we attend to the business 
of our daily lives, it must be without worry and 
anxiety and with confidence and trust in our heavenly 
Father. 

And continued Christ : "Judge not, that you may 
not be judged. For with what judgement you 
judge, you shall be judged. . . . And why seest 
thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and seeth 
not the beam that is in thy own eye?" 

Mary Theresa: How could a beam of wood be 
in any one's eyes? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 95 

Grandma: When our Lord speaks of the beam 
and of the mote, which is the tiniest particle possible 
he is again using a comparison, a similitude. He 
here compares the small faults, as small as motes, 
which we see in others, to the great faults, as large 
as beams, which we do not see in ourselves; and, 
therefore, our Lord added: "Thou hpyocrite, cast 
out first the beam out of thy own eye, and then thou 
shalt see to cast out the mote out of thy brother's 
eye." "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and 
you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." 

Paul: Grandma, I often ask for things, and I 
don't get them; and I knock, and I am told I can't 
come in; and I look for things, and I can't find them. 
Yesterday I asked you for a knife, and you did not 
give it to me. 

Grandma: Little Paul, you forget that Jesus 
speaks here to men about t-he things of God. He 
tells us to ask God for those things we need, and he 
will not refuse us, provided what we ask be good and 
useful to us. But our Father in heaven will refuse 
to give us what we ask if it be dangerous for us, as I 
refused you a knife which might have hurt you. And 
when our Lord speaks of seeking and of knocking, 
that we may find and that the door may be opened to 
us, he refers to the kingdom of heaven. This 
kingdom will be ours if we seek it with perseverance 
by praying persistently for those virtues which give 
us a quiet conscience, at peace with God. And 



96 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

this good conscience is a beginning of his kingdom 
even in this world. 

Paul: What is the conscience? 

Grandma: Our conscience is that inner voice 
which tells us what is right and what is wrong, and 
which warns us that even when alone we are under 
the eye of our Father in heaven. Conscience is the 
voice of God. 

Jesus said many more beautiful things, and ended 
his discourse on the Mount with these words: 

"Every one therefore that heareth these my 
words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise 
man that built his house upon a rock. And the rain 
fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and 
they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it 
was founded on a rock." "And every one that 
heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall 
be like a foolish man that built his house upon the 
sand. And the rain feH, and the floods came, and 
the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and 
it fell, and great was the fall thereof." 

The multitude listened with wonder and delight 
to these words of Christ, for he spoke as one 
who had power to teach; not as the scribes and 
Pharisees who had long taught them, but who had 
failed to win them to the love of God as did 
Christ Jesus. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 97 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE CENTURION. 

Grandma: After the wonderful sermon of which 
I told you, Jesus came down from the mountain 
followed by a great crowd, and returned to Caper- 
naum. A Roman Centurion drawing near said to 
him — 

Jan e : What is a Centurion ? 

Grandma: A Centurion was a Roman officer who 
had one hundred men under his command. The 
Centurion said to Jesus: "Lord, my servant lieth 
at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tor- 
mented." And Jesus said to him: "I will come 
and heal him." 

And the Centurion answered, and said: "Lord 
I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under 
my roof; but only say the word, and my servant 
shall be healed." 

Peter: Why, these are the very same words the 
priest uses before he receives Holy Communion and 
before he gives us Holy Communion. 

Grandma: Yes; these words so perfect in their 
humility, have come down to us from this Centurion, 






98 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

and are repeated by the priest at every Mass, and 
by all who draw near to Jesus in Holy Communion. 

And the Centurion added: "For I also am a man 
under authority; and I say to one; Go, and he 
goeth; and to another: Come, and he cometh; and 
to my servant: Do this, and he doth it." 

Jesus heating these words was surprised, and 
said to them that followed him: "Amen I say to 
you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. Many 
shall come from the East and the West, and shall sit 
down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the 
kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom 
shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

Louis: Grandma, I don't quite understand these 
words — who will come from the East and the West? 

Grandma: By these words our Lord praises the 
Centurion — who was a Roman, not a Jew — and at 
the same time he teaches the Jews a lesson. He tells 
them that other nations to the East and to the West 
of Judea, who had not been blessed as the Jews had 
been in having Christ, the Savior of the world, with 
them, will none the less believe in his coming. He 
adds that they will be saved by their faith as surely 
as were the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, who are in the kingdom of heaven. 

Louis: And who are the children of the king- 
dom, of whom our Lord speaks, and why will they 
be cast into darkness? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 99 

Grandma: The children of the kingdom were the 
Jewish people. A nation specially watched over by 
God, and to whom he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, 
that he might teach them the way to the kingdom 
of God. But they were ungrateful and rebellious 
sons of God — and refused to believe in him. So our 
Lord says that, while the other nations of the earth 
will enter the kingdom of heaven, those who refused 
to believe in him will be cast into the darkness of hell. 

Jane: What a terrible thing is hell. 

Grandma: Yes; more terrible than any suffering 
in this world can be. To avoid this eternal punish- 
ment we must do our duty faithfully; we must resist 
temptation and love God. In a word, we must be 
good Christians. 

And turning to the Centurion, Jesus said: "Go 
and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee." 
"And the servant was healed at the same hour." 






100 THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE SON OF THE WIDOW OF NAIM. 

Grandma: Jesus left Capernaum, and took the 
road to Nairn, in the company of his disciples and 
followed by a great crowd. 

Drawing near to the gates of the city, they met 
a funeral procession wending its way to the burying 
ground outside the city. 

Carried on a litter by his kindred lay the body of 
the dead, a young man, "the only son of his mother, 
and she was a widow.' ' 

Jesus, seeing the distress of the poor mother, was 
moved with pity. 

Drawing near, he touched the litter, and the 
bearers stood still, and Jesus said to the dead: 
"Young man, I say to thee, arise!" "And he that 
was dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave 
him to his mother." 

Elizabeth: How wonderful it is that our Lord 
could raise the dead to life! 

Grandma: Jesus raised the dead to life by the 
the same power that he created. Christ was God 
as well as man — and it is not more wonderful to 






THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 101 

restore the dead to life than it is to create a being 
into life. 

And all who witnessed this miracle were filled with 
fear, "and they glorified God, saying: A great 
prophet is risen up among us, and God hath visited 
his people." 



102 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS. 

Grandma: Rumors of the miracles of Jesus were 
spread far and wide in all Judea and in all the neigh- 
boring country. John the Baptist heard these 
things, and calling two of his disciples he sent them 
to Jesus, bidding them ask Christ who he was; 
saying: "Art thou he that art to come; or look we 
for another?" 

Henry: Why did not John go himself to Jesus, 
instead of sending his disciples? 

Grandma : John was detained in prison by Herod, 
and he sent his disciples to witness if this was the 
Christ, the Messias, whom he had long known. 

While these messengers stood by, Jesus healed 
in their presence "many of their diseases and sores, 
and evil spirits, and to many that were blind he 
gave sight;" and turning to the two disciples Jesus 
said: "Go and relate to John what you have heard 
and seen: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers 
are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again; 
to the poor the Gospel is preached." 

In these words our Lord gave John the Baptist 
a sign that he was truly the Messias, with the power 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 103 

of God to heal all men ; the Christ who had come to 
preach the Gospel to all, rich and poor alike, which 
means the message of good tidings of God's kingdom. 

When the messengers left with their answer for 
John the Baptist, our Lord began to speak of John 
to the people: "What went ye out into the desert 
to see? a reed shaken with the wind?" . . . "But 
what went you out to see? a prophet? yea, I say 
to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of 
whom it is written : Behold I send my angel before 
thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." 

Louis: What means "before thy face;" and 
whose way did the angel prepare ? 

Grandma: St. John the Baptist was the angel> 
the messenger, to whom our Lord refers. He was 
the forerunner of Christ, sent to foretell, to announce, 
his coming. Then our Lord reproached the Jews 
because they had not recognized John as his fore- 
runner, and that they now refused to see in himself 
Christ the Savior of the World, foretold by John the 
Baptist. 



104 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE SINFUL WOMAN IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON. 

Grandma: And now I shall relate to you an 
instance of the great mercy of Jesus Christ for all 
repentant sinners. 

One day a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus 
and his disciples to a banquet in his house. While 
they were at table a woman, who was known as one 
who led a wicked life, came into the banquet-room 
bearing an alabaster box of precious ointment. 

Little Lo uis : Who was this woman ? 

Grandma: This woman was Mary Magdalene, 
the sister of Martha and of Lazarus, who were the 
friends of Jesus. She was young, rich, and beautiful. 
She lived in the town of Magdala, spending her life 
in pleasures and in sin, far from thoughts of God. 
But she had seen and heard Jesus, and repentance 
was beginning to stir her soul. 

Hearing that he was in the house of Simon, she 
came to him full of sorrow for her sins. Throwing 
herself at the feet of Jesus, she kissed his feet, bathed 
them in the tears she shed, wiped them with her long 
hair, and breaking her alabaster box, poured its 
perfume on his feet. Jesus was silent, and the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 105 

Pharisee who had invited him to this dinner thought 
to himself: "If this man were a prophet, he would 
surely know who and what manner of woman this is 
that toucheth him; that she is a sinner." 

Jesus read the thought of Simon and said to him : 
"Simon, I have something to say to thee." And 
Simon answered: "Master, say it." And Jesus 
said: "A certain creditor had two debtors; the one 
owed him five hundred pence and the other fifty; 
and whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he for- 
gave them both. Which, therefore, of the two 
loveth him most?" Simon answering, said: "I 
suppose that he to whom he forgave most." And 
Jesus said to him: "Thou hast judged rightly." 

And turning to the woman, he said to Simon: 
"Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy 
house, thou gavest me no water for my feet ; but she 
with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hair 
hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, 
since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 
My head with oil thou didst not anoint ; but she with 
ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say 
to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she 
hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, 
he loveth less." 

Then, turning to Mary Magdalene, whose face was 
bathed in tears, he said in a voice full of kindness 
and of mercy: "Thy sins are forgiven thee." 



106 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And those that were at table with Jesus began to 
say to each other: "Who is this that forgiveth sins 
also?" 

And he said to the woman: "Thy faith hath 
saved thee, go in peace.' ' 

Mary Magdalene ever afterwards led a life of 
repentance, and we shall find her following Jesus and 
ministering to him. 

Jesus continued to journey through towns and 
villages, everywhere announcing the glad tidings 
of salvation, followed by his twelve disciples and by 
many whom he had delivered of their infirmities. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 107 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

MIRACLES AND PARABLES OF JESUS. 

Grandma: On one occasion a man born blind 
and dumb was brought to Jesus, and he cured him, 
so that the man spoke and saw. 

All the people were amazed at this new miracle s 
and said to each other: "Is not this the son of 
David?" And they flocked to him to witness his 
miracles and to hear the words of wisdom, strength, 
and love which fell from his lips. So great was the 
crowd that he could not find time to eat and to 
drink. While he was speaking to this eager multi- 
tude, a man pushed his way through the crowd, 
saying, "Thy mother and thy brethren stand with- 
out, seeking thee.' 

Louis: I thought our Lord was the only son of 
the Blessed Virgin Mary? 

Grandma: You are quite right: Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God, was the only child of the Virgin Mary; 
but in Hebrew, or in the Syrian tongue, which was 
spoken in Judea, cousins are called brothers. It is 
so in other countries besides Judea. In Russia, for 
instance, there is no word for cousin. They say 
"brother and sister once removed." Looking around 



108 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

at those who sat with him, Jesus answered this 
messenger: "Who is my mother and who are my 
brethren? Behold my mother and my brethren. 
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father that 
is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother." 

By these words our Lord shows his love for all 
men whom he came to save, and especially his love 
for those who love God and who obey his law, and 
for those who leave riches, honors, pleasures for his 
sake. They are to him mother, brother, and sister. 

Leaving the house, Jesus took the road leading to 
the lake, and seated himself on the shore, but the 
multitude was so great that he entered a boat and 
pushed out a little from the land. Seated in this 
boat the crowd could see him and hear him, and he 
taught them in parables. 

Henry: What is a parable? 

Grandma : As I have already explained, a parable 
is a story, a tale, more serious than a fable, which is 
related to make a truth clearer or to explain a doc- 
trine. In those days it was customary to teach by 
means of fables and parables containing a hidden 
meaning. 

One of our Lord's parables which he related to 
the multitude is as follows: "The sower went out 
to sow his seed. And while he soweth, some fell 
by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the 
birds of the air ate it up. And some fell upon a 
rock; and as soon as it was sprung up it withered 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 109 

away, because it had no moisture. And some fell 
among thorns; and the thorns growing up with it, 
choked it. And some fell upon good ground; and 
being sprung up, yielded fruit a hundredfold." 

Jane: I do not understand this parable. 

Grandma: I shall give you the explanation our 
Lord himself gave his disciples ; who did not under- 
stand it any better than you do, and they asked: 
"Why speakest thou to them in parables? 

And Jesus answered: "Now the parable is this: 
The seed is the word of God. And they by the way- 
side are they that hear; then the devil cometh and 
taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they 
should be saved. Now they upon the rock, are they 
who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and 
these have no roots ; for they believe for a while, and 
in time of temptation they fall away. And that 
which fell among the thorns, are they who have 
heard, and going their way, are choked with the 
cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and yield 
no fruit. But he that received the seed upon good 
ground, this is he that heareth the word, and under- 
standeth and beareth fruit and yieldeth the one a 
hundredfoldj and another sixty, and another thirty." 

Little Louis: What does that mean, to yield 
fruit a hundredfold? 

Grandma: This means the fruits of the virtues 
which you practise. For example, you practise 
the virtue of patience, and you become gentle, 



110 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

amiable, and kindly. These virtues are the fruits 
of your patience. And so the good seed of the word 
of God, sown in our hearts, bears fruit which in- 
creases if we are faithful in the practice of virtue. 
And Jesus spoke to them another parable : 
"The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that 
sowed good seed in his field. But while men were 
asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among 
the wheat and went his way." 

Paul : And what is cockle ? 

Grandma: Cockle is a weed which is frequently 
found among the wheat, and which is injurious to it. 

In this parable the cockle, our Lord tells them, 
grew up with the good wheat. "Then the servants 
of the good man of the house, coming, said to him: 
Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? 
Whence, then, hath it cockle? And he said to them: 
An enemy hath done this. And the servants said 
to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? 
And he said: No; lest, perhaps, gathering up the 
cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. 
Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the 
time of the harvest I will say to the reapers : Gather 
up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, 
but the wheat gather ye into my barn." 

When our Lord had finished speaking, and had 
dismissed the multitude, who returned to their own 
homes, the disciples came to him, asking him to 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 111 

explain the parable of the cockle in the wheat field. 

Henrietta: It does not seem to me the Apostles 
were very clever. They never understand our Lord. 

Grandma: The Apostles were, indeed, ignorant 
men. It was through God's great mercy and grace 
that they were changed and enlightened at Pentecost, 
when the Holy Ghost came down upon them, as 
you will see later. Jesus replied to his disciples: 
"He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man. 
And the field is the world. And the good seed are 
the children of the kingdom. And the cockle 
are the children of the wicked one. And the enemy 
that sowed them is the devil. But the harvest is 
the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels. 
Even as cockle, therefore, is gathered up, and burnt 
with fire; so shall it be at the end of the world. The 
Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall 
gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that 
work iniquity. And shall cast them into the furnace 
of fire: there shall be weeping and gnasning of teeth. 
Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the king- 
dom of their Father." 

Valentine: What means iniquity? 

Grandma: Iniquity is evil. Our Lord here tells 
us that those who do evil, who commit sins, will not 
enter heaven, but will be cast into hell. 

Our Lord gave the multitude another parable 
to explain the kingdom of heaven. This one you 
can readily understand : 



112 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

"The Kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into 
the sea, and gathering together all kinds of fishes. 
Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting 
by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, 
but the bad they cast forth. So shalt it be at the end 
of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall 
separate the wicked from among the just. And 
shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

Louis: It seems to me our Lord so often speaks 
of "weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

Grandma: If our merciful Lord often speaks 
of the punishment of hell, it is in order to impress 
upon his hearers all the horror of being lost, and to 
urge them to give up evil and do good, that they 
may avoid this eternal separation from God. 

When our Lord had finished these parables, he 
said to them: "Have ye understood these things? 
And they said to him: Yea." 

Then our Lord set out to preach in other cities* 
Seeing how great was the multitude around him, he 
ordered his disciples to row over to the other side 
of the Lake of Genesareth. 

Then a Doctor of the Law, drawing near, said to 
him: "Master, I will follow thee withersoever thou 
shalt go." And Jesus said to him: "The foxes 
have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the 
Son of man hath not where to lay his head." By 
these words our Lord told the scribes and Doctors 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 113 

of the Law that he had no riches to offer his fol- 
lowers. The life of Christ on earth was a life of 
poverty. Turning to his disciples our Lord said: 
"Let us pass over to the other side." 



114 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE QUIETING OF THE TEMPEST. 

Grandma: The disciples, having dismissed the 
multitude, rowed out into the lake with our Lord on 
board their boat. Other barks followed. Then 
there arose a great storm, so great that the waves 
washed over the little bark, and threatened to 
engulf it. Jesus seated in the stern, with his head 
on the pilot's pillow, slept, wearied with the toils 
of the day. 

Li t tie Louis : What is the stern ? 

Grandma: The stern is the hind part of a ship, 
the bow is the fore part. Alarmed at the raging of 
the storm, the disciples wakened Jesus, and said to 
him in great excitement ; 

"Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish? 
And rising up, he rebuked the wind and said to the 
sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and 
there was made a great calm. And he said to them: 
Why are you fearful? Have ye not faith yet?" 

But the disciples were filled with fear and wonder, 
"and they said to one another: Who is this, think 
you, that he commandeth both the winds and the 
sea, and they obey him?" 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 115 

Henry: What, the disciples did not yet under- 
stand that Jesus was the Son of God? 

Grandma: They had the knowledge that Christ 
was the Son of God, but were not yet firm in their 
belief, and each new miracle that Jesus performed 
surprised and frightened them. Before and after 
these miracles, which showed his divine power, they 
saw our Lord poor, humble, often weary, a man of 
sorrow, and they failed to realize that the weakness 
of the Son of man was combined with the power of 
the Son of God. 



116 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE CURE OF THE MAN POSSESSED OF AN EVIL, SPIRIT. 

Grandma: After the stilling of the tempest, 
Jesus and his disciples landed in Gadara on the 
opposite shore of Galilee. 

Hardly had Jesus set foot upon this land, when 
there came rushing to him a man possessed of an 
evil spirit, who tormented him sorely. The evil 
spirit had made this man so violent that he could 
not be bound, even with iron chains. He dwelt 
in the caves among the hills, a wild creature, feared 
and avoided by all the people. Throwing himself 
at the feet of Christ the wretched demoniac cried 
out: "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, the 
Son of the Most High God? I beseech thee do not 
torment me.*' And Jesus commanded the evil 
spirit saying: "Go out of the man, thou unclean 
spirit." 

And Jesus questioned him : ' ' What is thy name ? ' ' 
The evil spirit replied: "My name is Legion; for 
we are many." 

There was on the mountain side a herd of swine 
feeding, and the evil spirits besought our Lord that 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 117 

they might be permitted to enter into the swine, and 
Jesus permitted it. 

"The devils, therefore, went out of the man and 
entered into the swine; and the herd ran violently 
down a steep place into the lake, and were drowned.' ' 
The men who kept these herds were frightened, and 
they fled to the city and told what had happened. 

And the men from the city, and those who owned 
the swine, "came to Jesus, and they found the man, 
out of whom the devils had departed, sitting at his 
feet, clothed, and in his right mind; and they were 
afraid." And those standing around, who had 
witnessed the miracle, related what had happened; 
and these men besought Jesus that he would leave 
their country. 

Jane: How foolish these people are: instead of 
asking Jesus to stay with them, they beg him to 
leave ! 

Grandma: These men of Gadara did what all 
men do who are not good Christians, and who 
think only of the goods of this world. They thought 
only of the loss of their swine. They failed to under- 
stand that the presence of our Lord was to them 
more useful and more profitable than their herds 
could possibly be. 

Louis: I don't see how other men do this. 

Grandma: They drive Jesus out of their hearts 
when they prefer their pride, their greed, their 
anger, their indolence to his presence within them. 



118 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

For our Lord cannot dwell in our hearts when we 
prefer these sins to the practice of the virtues of 
charity, gentleness, humility, and mortification. 

When Jesus embarked to return to Galilee the 
man whom he had delivered from the power of the 
evil one, begged to accompany him. The Lord 
would not permit it, but said to him: "Return to 
thy house and to thy friends and tell them how God 
hath done great things for thee, and hath had mercy 
on thee." 

Jack: Why did not our Lord let this poor man 
go with him? 

Grandma: Because our Lord knew that this 
man would be more useful to the glory of God in his 
own country, by making known this great miracle, 
than by joining the company of his disciples. The 
man, therefore, went his way, and published in all 
the cities around what Jesus had done for him,"and 
all men wondered." 




Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 119 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 

Grandma: Jesus, having crossed over the Lake 
of Genesareth to the land, was met by an eager 
crowd, who had gathered on the shore to greet him. 
Among the multitude was a chief of the synagogue 
named Jairus. He ran eagerly to Christ, and throw- 
ing himself at his feet, distracted with grief, he 
poured out his prayer, saying: "My daughter is at 
the point of death, come, lay thy hand upon her, that 
she may be safe, and may live." 

Moved with pity, Jesus followed Jairus. Behind 
him, around him, thronged the crowd. In this 
multitude was a poor woman who had been suffering 
with a loss of blood for twelve years. She had 
consulted many physicians, who were unable to 
cure her. She had spent all her money seeking 
health, and yet was growing worse rather than 
better. 

Having heard of the miracles of Jesus, she came 
to him in the crowd unnoticed and touched his 
garment, for she had said to herself: "If I but 
touch the hem of his garment, I shall be healed." 



120 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And immediately she felt in her body that she was 
cured of the evil." 

No one had noticed her, but Jesus knew that a 
grace had gone out from him. He turned to the 
crowd and said: "Who hath touched my gar- 
ments?" "And his disciples said to him: Thou 
seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou 
who hath touched me?" But our Lord looked 
around the crowd seeking her whom he had healed. 
The poor woman, ashamed, and full of fear, in spite 
of her great happiness, meeting the eyes of Christ, 
fell trembling at his feet, and told before all the 
people her illness and her cure. Jesus said to her: 
"Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in 
peace, and be thou whole of thy disease." 

While he was yet speaking, some of the servants of 
Jairus came hurrying to him, saying : ' ' Thy daughter 
is dead; why dost thou trouble the Master any 
longer?" 

But Jesus, having overheard the servant, said to 
the ruler of the synagogue : "Fear not ; only believe, 
and she shall be safe." And he continued on his 
way to the house of Jairus. Here he found assembled 
a great crowd of mourners, wailing and weeping 
and uttering great cries of distress; for it was cus- 
tomary among the Jews to lament the dead loudly 
to show their sympathy for the parents of the 
deceased. 

Our Lord said to them: "Why make this ado, 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 121 

and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." 
And the mourners mocked him. But Jesus, taking 
with him Peter, and James, and John, and the father 
and mother of the young girl, went into the darkened 
room. Here, ready for burial, lay the body of a 
twelve-year-old maiden. Taking her by the hand, 
Jesus said to her: "Talitha cumi." Which means: 
"Damsel, I say to thee, arise. And immediately 
the young girl rose up, and walked." 

And Jesus bade them give her something to eat. 
All they who had seen this miracle were in admira- 
tion and in astonishment, and Jesus forbade them 
to tell any one. It was not long, however, before 
all the country round knew of this miracle. 

Louis: How did people know it, since our Lord 
had forbidden them to tell of it? 

Grandma: Because, no doubt, in spite of his 
prohibition, people spoke of this miracle — some 
through admiration, some through indiscertion. In 
those days, you see, as to-day, our Lord was not 
always obeyed. 



122 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

THE CURING OF THE BUND AND THE DUMB. 

Grandma: As Jesus left the house of Jairus two 
blind men followed him crying out: "Have mercy 
on us, Son of David!" When Jesus reached the 
house where he dwelt they drew near, and Christ, 
full of pity for their affliction, turned to them and 
said: "Do you believe that I can do this for you? 
They said to him: Yea, Lord. Then he touched 
their eyes, saying: According to your faith, be it 
done unto you. And their eyes were opened." 
And Jesus said: "See that no man know this." 

But on leaving our Lord, they spread the good 
news of their cure far and wide. 

Jack: And did our Lord punish them? 

Grandma: The Gospel does not indicate that our 
Lord reproached them; and it is more than likely he 
did not do so. 

Jack: I don't understand how it is that Jesus 
forbids these blind men to tell of their cure, and 
when they disobey him, they are not punished. Yet, 
I remember you told us how when Moses disobeyed 
God by striking the rock twice, for the water to gush 
out, instead of striking it only once, as God had 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 123 

commanded him, he was severely punished, and not 
allowed to enter the promised land. 

Grandma: I shall show you the difference be- 
tween the disobedience of Moses and that of these 
blind men. Moses disobeyed from the mistrust of 
God. One blow of his rod seemed to him insufficient, 
in spite of God's command. Now, the blind men 
disobeyed through their gratitude and love. They 
longed to make known to their countrymen the 
power and goodness of Christ. And in their eager- 
ness they disobeyed. We frequently see such cases 
of disobedience, and nowhere do we see that our 
Lord was angry. Our Lord readily forgives a fault 
that springs from no evil cause, but from zeal ill- 
directed or unwise. 

Seeing the cure of the blind men, they brought to 
Christ a man possessed of a dumb devil that he 
might heal him, also. 

Paul: What is a dumb devil? 

Grandma: It was an evil spirit which possessed 
the man so that he could not speak. As soon as our 
Lord had driven out the devil, the man spoke and 
the people were in admiration and cried out : ' ' Never 
was the like seen in Israel!" 

But the Pharisees, who feared that this miracle 
would gain many followers to Christ, said to the 
people that by the aid of the devil he cast out the 
devils. 

Jane : And did the people believe this ? 



124 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: No doubt some believed it. For is 
it not unfortunately true that even in our own days 
we are more disposed to believe evil than good of 
others? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 125 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

CHRIST VISITS NAZARETH. 

Grandma: Jesus left this neighborhood to jour- 
ney in Galilee. He went first to his own city of 
Nazareth, where he had lived with Mary and Joseph 
through all his childhood and youth. On the 
Sabbath day he preached in the synagogue. A 
large number gathered to hear him, and they were 
amazed at his eloquence and power. And they 
said to one another: "How came this man by this 
wisdom and miracles? Is not his mother called 
Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph and 
Simon and Jude?" 

They referred to his cousins, as I have already 
explained to you. And they added: "Are not his 
sisters here amongst us?" In Jesus, whom they 
knew to be the Son of Mary and Joseph the carpenter, 
they refused to recognize the Messias. Their pride 
revolted, and they would not believe he had the 
power to teach them. "And Jesus said to them : A 
prophet is not without honor, save in his own 
country, and in his own house." "And he wrought 
not many miracles there because of their unbelief." 

Valentine: Why did he not perform miracles? 



126 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: Because when our Lord healed the 
sick and performed miracles on the afflicted in body, 
he expected and looked for faith in the soul. He 
looked for sorrow for past sins and purpose of amend- 
ment. Here in Nazareth he failed to find these 
good dispositions; on the contrary, they were un- 
believing, and, therefore, after healing a few of 
their sick, he left his own city, never to return within 
its ungrateful walls. 

But our Lord went into the neighboring cities, 
preaching everywhere and healing the sick. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 127 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE MISSION OF THE APOSTLES. 

Grandma: Wherever Christ journeyed he found 
the people as sheep without a shepherd, willing and 
eager to listen to the word of God, but without 
teachers to show them the right way. And calling 
to him his twelve disciples Christ sent them two by 
two to preach in all that country. He gave them 
power over the unclean spirits. 

Louis: What are unclean spirits? 

Grandma: These are the spirits of evil, the 
demons. Our Lord commanded his disciples to 
carry with them on their journeyings, "neither staff, 
nor scrip, nor bread, nor money, nor two coats." 

Mary Theresa: And how did these poor Apostles 
live? 

Grandma: They lived on alms. Our Lord did 
for them what he does everyday for those who 
devote themselves to his service, and who trust in 
him. To these, his faithful friends, he inclines the 
hearts of those who listen to the word of God, of 
those who desire to know the truth and to do good. 

To-day we have the Sisters of Charity; the Little 
Sisters of the Poor; the Franciscans, and many 



128 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

others; who, like the Apostles, possess nothing and 
live on alms. 

Our Lord in thus sending out his Apostles, poor 
in all things and depending on charity, gave the first 
example of the religious life with its practice of holy 
poverty. "And he said to them: Wheresoever 
you shall enter into a house, there abide till you 
depart from that place. And when you come into 
the house salute it, saying: Peace be to this house. 
. . . And whosoever shall not receive you, nor 
hear your words, going forth from thence, shake 
off the dust from your feet." 

Henrietta: Why should they shake off the dust 
from their feet? 

Grandma: This was as a sign of malediction, 
the opposite of blessing, or benediction. It was as 
if to say: You refuse to receive us, the servants of 
God, and you will be punished; and since you refuse 
us the bread and shelter we stand in need of, we shall 
keep nothing of yours, not even the dust of your 
home which has gathered on our feet. To merit 
the blessing of God we must be always polite and 
charitable to the religious who are God's servants, 
and who came to us begging alms in his name for a 
church, a school, a convent, a charity. Give little 
if you have but little, but do not refuse what is asked 
in the name of God, and God's blessing will follow 
your charity. 

Our Lord added: "Behold I send you as sheep 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 129 

in the midst of wolves. Be ye, therefore, wise as 
serpents and simple as doves." 

And he told them that they would be persecuted 
and hated for his sake, that they would be obliged 
to flee from city to city to preach the kingdom of 
God. For, said Jesus: "I came not to send peace, 
but the sword." 

Louis: What does that mean? 

Grandma : Our Lord here foretells the persecution 
of his servants. Those whom his disciples converted 
to Christianity would be persecuted by the un- 
believers, tortured, and even put to death for their 
belief in Christ Jesus. 

Our Lord added: "He that receive th you, 
receiveth me. . . . And whosoever shall give 
to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water 
in the name of a disciple, he shall not lose his re- 
ward." 

The Apostles, therefore, set out according to the 
orders of the Master. Everywhere they went, they 
preached repentance for sins, charity towards all 
men, and love of one another for the sake of Christ. 
Wherefore, when we Christians give alms we give to 
Christ Jesus himself. When we give in this spirit, 
our Lord accepts our charity and rewards us eternally. 

And the Apostles "cast out many devils, and 
anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed 
them." 

Valentine : Why did they anoint the sick with oil ? 



130 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: It was oil which they had blessed in 
the name of Jesus. No doubt this was an image of 
Extreme Unction. Oil represents the unction and 
healing of the Holy Ghost. 

Mary Theresa: What is Extreme Unction? 

Grandma: It is a sacrament instituted by our 
Lord, for the dying, to give grace to those about to 
die, and to remit the sins they have committed. 

Valentine: What is a sacrament ? 

Grandma: A sacrament is an outward sign 
instituted by Christ, to give grace, to scantify us in 
all the most important events of our life. 

Valentine: What important events for instance? 

Grand ma : First : At our birth we are regenerated 
by Baptism. 

Second: When we reach the age of reason we are 
sanctified and strengthened by Confirmation. 

Third: As we grow older our souls are nourished 
and made to live in Christ by Holy Communion. 

Fourth: When we have sinned we are forgiven 
and reconciled by confession, or, as it is called, the 
sacrament of Penance. 

Fifth: Extreme Unction strengthens us and pre- 
pares us when we are about to die. 

Sixth: Holy Orders is the sacrament in which the 
powers of the priesthood are conferred. 

Seventh: Matrimony unites man and woman in 
indissoluble wedlock, and gives to that union the 
special blessing of God 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 131 

The first five sacraments are for all and every one. 
The last two, Holy Orders and Matrimony, for those 
only who choose as a state of life the priesthood or 
the scate of marriage. 



132 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XL. 

BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

Grandma: To-day, my children, I shall have to 
relate to you an incident that will shock and scan- 
dalize you. I shall have to tell you of the cruelty 
of Herod, the King. 

Louis: The King Herod who murdered the little 
innocent babies when Jesus was born ? 

Grandma: No; this Herod had long since died 
and been succeeded by Archelaus, whom you recall 
reigned in his stead when Joseph brought back the 
Child Jesus from Egypt. 

Archelaus reigned only one year, and in turn was 
succeeded by his wicked brother, Herod the Second. 
Some time before the incident I am about to relate, 
Herod ordered John the Baptist to be bound and 
cast into prison. 

Jack: How dreadful! Why did Herod treat 
John the Baptist so cruelly? 

Grandma: Herodias, the sister-in-law of Herod, 
had induced him to imprison John, whom she hated. 

Louis: Why did Herodias hate John? 

Grandma: John the Baptist, fearing no man, had 
publicy warned the King that the law forbade him 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 133 

to marry Herodias, his sister-in-law, while Philip, 
the husband of Herodias, still lived. However, 
Herodias, full of ambition — 

H enry : What is ambition ? 

Grandma: To be ambitious is to love power and 
riches and honors. It is to desire to be more and to 
have more than one already possesses. 

Herodias was ambitious to be made Queen, and 
St. John rightly and fearlessly prevented it. She 
sought means, therefore, to have the Baptist put to 
death. That he was bound and imprisoned did not 
satisfy her wicked desires. One day King Herod 
gave a great feast. It was his birthday, and he 
celebrated it with great pomp. To this feast, he 
invited all the great men of the court and their 
wives and the officers of his army. 

The daughter of Herodias was among the invited 
guests, and to entertain the company she danced. 
She danced so well that Herod and his guests were 
delighted; and Herod, wishing to reward her, called 
her and said: "Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will 
will give it thee." And he swore that he would give 
her whatsoever she would ask, even though she 
asked for half of his kingdom. 

The young woman consulted with her mother 
what she should ask the King, and Herodias, seizing 
this opportunity to obtain what she wished of Herod, 
bid her daughter ask for the head of John the 
Baptist. 



134 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

The young woman, who was cruel and wicked as 
was her mother, returned to the banquet hall where 
they all sat at table, and said to the King: "Give 
me here in a dish the head of John the Baptist." 
This horrible request struck the King with sadness. 

Though his conscience reproached him, he had 
promised before them all to give her what she asked, 
and he was ashamed to refuse her request. He 
ordered, therefore, one of his soldiers to behead 
John the Baptist in his prison. "And his head was 
brought in a dish; and it was given to the damsel, 
and she brought it to her mother." 

The disciples of John, hearing of this, came and 
took his body and laid it in a tomb. Tradition tells 
us that later the head of the Baptist was found 
where it had been thrown, and that it was buried 
in the tomb where his body had long been interred. 

Paid : What is a tradition ? 

Grandma: A tradition is the account of some 
event which happened in time past, which was not 
written down, but was told by word of mouth. An 
incident, for example, is witnessed by a number of 
people, and they tell their neighbors what they have 
seen and heard, and these friends tell their children, 
who, as they grow older, relate what was told them 
in their childhood; and so a truth comes down to us 
through the centuries. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 135 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE FEEDING OF THE MULTITUDE IN THE DESERT. 

Grandma: The Apostles whom our Lord had 
sent out to teach the people, returned to give him 
an account of their labors. "Come apart into a 
desert place and rest a little," Christ said to them, 
"for there were so many coming and going that they 
had not so much as time to eat." 

And entering one of the barks which lay anchored 
nearby, they crossed the sea of Tiberias, to a desert 
place beyond the lake. When the multitude saw 
Jesus set sail to cross the lake, the news of his going 
spread far and wide, and from the little towns and 
villages round about the people flocked to the 
opposite side of the lake to meet our Lord as he 
landed. 

When Christ stepped from the bark with his 
disciples there they found the multitude eagerly 
awaiting his coming. Jesus took pity on this 
crowd, eager to hear his word, for they were as sheep 
without a shepherd, and forgetting his fatigue, he 
spoke to them for a long time of the kingdom of God. 

It began to grow late and the disciples said to 
Christ: "Send away the multitude, that going into 



136 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

the towns and villages round about they may lodge 
and get victuals, for we are here in a desert place." 

"But he said to them: Give you them to eat." 
Philip answering said to our Lord: "A hundred 
pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that 
every one may take a little." And Jesus said to his 
disciples: "How many loaves have you? go and 
see." Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, returned, 
saying: "There is a boy here that hath five barley 
loaves and two fishes, but what is that among so 
many?" And Jesus ordered his disciples to make 
the people sit in groups on the green grass. The 
multitude numbered five thousand men alone, with 
many women and children. 

Christ then took in his hands the five loaves and 
the two fishes and "looking up to heaven he blessed 
and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples" 
to distribute among the people, "and the two fishes 
he divided among them all." And the Apostles 
distributed the loaves and fishes "and they all did 
eat and had their fill." 

Jack: How was that possible ? 

Grandma: This was not only possible but easy 
for our Lord to accomplish. You know he was God, 
the Creator of all things. He multiplied and in- 
creased the bread and fishes, as the Apostles dis- 
tributed them, just as he created the fishes that 
swim in the sea. When all had been satisfied, the 
disciples "took up the leavings, twelve full baskets 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 137 

of fragments." The people seeing this miracle said 
to one another: "This is of a truth the prophet 
that is to come into the world." 

And Jesus sent his disciples across the lake in the 
boat to await his coming, "and having dismissed 
the multitude he went up to the mountain to pray." 



138 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XLII. 

CHRIST WALKS UPON THE WATER. 

Grandma: Our Lord, having dismissed the mul- 
titude, went up alone to the mountain to pray. 

Madeleine: Grandma, one thing which surprises 
me is that our Lord prayed so frequently. Why did 
he pray? To whom did he pray, since he was God 
and equal to his Father? 

Grandma: As Christ was true man as well as 
true God, Christ could pray to his Father. He 
prayed, first, to give us the example of prayer. 
Secondly, he prayed to adore God his Father, to 
thank him, to supplicate him, to beg of him forgive- 
ness and mercy in the name of all mankind. 

As I was saying, Christ withdrew to pray, while 
his disciples sailed towards Capernaum, there to 
await his coming. In the meantime a great storm 
arose and their bark was tossed by the waves. All 
night they rowed, but they could make no headway. 
Jesus, seeing his disciples struggling with wind and 
waves — 

Valentine: How could Jesus see them from the 
mountain where he was praying? 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 139 

Grandma: With the power which belongs to God 
who sees all things, Christ saw the ship out on the 
lake of Tiberius. Seeing their danger he went to 
their help, walking on the water. The disciples 
seeing Jesus coming to them on the water, thought 
they saw an apparition, and they were frightened. 
But immediately he spoke to them saying: "Be of 
good heart, it is I, fear not." 

Peter answered saying: "Lord, if it be thou, bid 
me come to thee upon the waters." "Come," said 
Jesus, and Peter getting out of the boat walked on 
the water to go to his master. But suddenly, the 
wind blowing with greater violence, Peter was 
frightened and he began to sink and he cried out: 
"Lord, save me." "And immediately Jesus, stretch- 
ing forth his hand, took hold of him and said to 
him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" 

Henry: I can understand how frightened 
St. Peter was. I would have been frightened too in 
his place. 

Grandma: And it would have been wrong of you, 
as it was of St. Peter. He began to sink only when 
he began to be afraid. Doubting the power of 
Christ to hold him on the surface of the water, he 
began to fear and he sank. If Peter had more faith, 
he would have known he was safe. He doubted, 
and he had witnessed so many miracles showing the 
power of Christ. Only a few days before he had seen 
five barley loaves and two fishes multiplied to feed 



140 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

five thousand people ! Christ punished his want of 
faith, and at the same time increased his faith, by 
permitting him to sink. Fortunately he called on 
Christ at once to save him. 

Like St. Peter, when we feel inclined to sin, near 
to sinking under temptation, we should call on Jesus 
for help. He will always come to our aid, as he 
did to St. Peter's. He held out his hand and helped 
him into the boat, and the storm ceased immediately. 

The disciples were amazed at this miracle. They 
were so blind of heart, these disciples ! They under- 
stood so faintly who our Lord was. The miracle of 
the loaves and fishes had not opened their eyes. But 
after having seen him walk on the waters and quiet 
the tempest, they drew near to Jesus and adored him 
saying: "Indeed, thou art the Son of God." 

Having crossed the lake, they landed in the 
country of Genesareth. 

No sooner had Christ landed, than the good news 
spread far and wide. The people flocked to him, 
from the villages and hamlets nearby, and they 
brought to him their sick and maimed, "and be- 
sought him that they might touch but the hem 
of his garment; and as many as touched him were 
made whole," 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 141 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE PROMISE OP THE EUCHARIST. 

Grandma: The next day the multitude, whom 
Jesus had left at Tiberius, set out to seek him, and 
not finding him, they crossed over the Sea of Tiberius 
in their barks to Capernaum. Having found 
Christ on the opposite shore, they said to him in 
surprise: "Master, when earnest thou hither?" 

Jesus read their hearts and knew that they sought 
him with such eagerness, not because of the truths 
he taught them, but because of the bread with which 
he had fed them in the wilderness. Therefore, 
without replying to their question, he told them that 
this life was not the eternal life, that the bread with 
which he had fed them in the desert was not the 
bread of eternal life which he would give them. 
"They said therefore to him: Lord give us always 
this bread." And Jesus said to them: "I am the 
living bread which came down from heaven." In 
beautiful words, which you will all read when you 
are as old as Camille and Elizabeth, Christ told 
them that the bread of eternal life of which he spoke 
was himself — his own flesh and blood, with which 
he would feed all men. And that those who would 



142 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

not eat of this bread, would not have eternal life. 
That they would not live in him, nor he in them. 

Henry: Grandma, I don't understand at all. 
How can we eat our Lord and how can he give him- 
self to all men as food? 

Grandma: Our Lord left us his body to be our 
food in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. In 
this Sacrament he continues for us the miracle 
of the multiplication of the loaves. Christ Jesus 
hides himself under the appearance of the bread 
given in Communion. Those who receive Com- 
munion receive truly and really the body and 
blood of Christ, hidden under the appearance of the 
Sacred Host and multiplied an infinite number of 
times, that all who wish may receive him. 

Though he is hidden thus under the appearance 
of bread, he is truly present. Hence we call the 
host "the bread of life." And he said to the Jews: 
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 
If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; 
and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the 
life of the world. . . . Amen, amen I say unto 
you ; except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and 
drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He 
that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath 
everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last 
day. For my flesh is meat indeed ; and my blood is 
drink indeed. . . . This is the bread which 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 143 

came down from heaven. . .. , He that eateth 
this bread shall live forever." 

The Jews and even the disciples who heard Jesus 
did not understand him. They thought this blessed 
promise strange and impossible. 

Jesus, who could read their hardened hearts, read 
these thoughts and continued speaking to them of 
the Eucharist; but many left him and would no 
longer be his disciples, because they would not 
believe. 

Then Jesus, saddened at their hardness of heart, 
turned to the twelve disciples who stood around him 
and said to them: "Will you also go away? And 
Simon Peter answered him: Lord to whom shall 
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And 
we have believed and have known that thou art the 
Christ, the Son of God." 

Jesus looked at him lovingly and said: "Have 
I not chosen you twelve; and one of you is a devil?" 

Our Lord here referred to Judas, who was to 
betray him, and who was one of the twelve whom 
he had chosen as his special friends. 

From that time Jesus remained in Galilee, avoid- 
ing the country of Judea, because the Jews sought to 
put him to death, and the hour of his sacrifice had 
not yet come. 

He preached in the country round about, and in 
the synagogues. In his many discourses, which we 
read in the Gospels, Christ Jesus sought to impress 



144 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

on all who heard him that it was not only the observ- 
ing of the Law which pleased God, but the good 
dispositions of the heart — humility, patience, purity, 
charity. He explained that it would avail them 
nothing to have fasted and offered up sacrifices, if 
in their hearts they entertained evil thoughts. For, 
Christ said to them: "Not that which goeth into 
the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh 
out of a man, this defileth a man." 

Little Louis: What does that mean, defileth? 

Grandma: To defile means to soil. Our souls 
are defiled by sin only. Our Lord meant what 
comes out of man's heart alone can stain or hurt his 
soul. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 145 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE CANAANITISH WOMAN. 

Grandma: One day, as Christ was passing on the 
road near Tyre and Sidon — 

Paul: What were Tyre and Sidon? 

Grandma: These were two wealthy towns of 
Phoenicia in Syria. From out of the city of Tyre 
there came to Jesus a Canaanitish woman — 

Paul: What does Canaanitish mean? 

Grandma: It means of the tribe of Canaan. 
These people dwelt in Syria. They were idolaters. 
That is to say, they worshipped false gods and 
images of false gods which they had made according 
to their fancy. This woman had heard of the 
miracles of Jesus, and she came to him crying out 
and saying: "Have mercy on me, Lord, thou 
Son of David; my daughter is grievously troubled by 
a devil." 

To this appeal Jesus answered not a word, and 
seemed unmindful of her petition. The woman 
continued to cry out, asking help for her daughter; 
and the disciples, wearied by her importunity, 
begged our Lord to heed her cry, saying: "Send 
her away, for she keeps crying after us." 



146 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And Jesus answering said: "I was not sent but 
to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel." 

Mary Theresa: What did that mean? To what 
sheep had he been sent? 

Grandma: Our Lord spoke of the people of Israel 
as the sheep to whom he had been sent. This Jewish 
people you know, were his chosen people, from 
whom was born the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother 
of Christ, the Messias who was to save the world. 
Therefore this, his chosen people, were to hear his 
word before all the other nations of the world. 
Another motive which induced our Lord to refuse to 
answer the supplications of this Canaanitish woman 
was that Christ wanted to teach us to persevere in 
prayer and not be discouraged, but to beg with 
oft-repeated supplications for what we need. 

Undaunted by his silence, the woman drew nearer 
and adored him, saying "Lord, help me." Who 
answering said: "It is not good to take the bread 
of the children, and to cast it to the dogs." 

Valentine: The poor woman was not asking for 
bread, but for her daughter's cure. I don't under- 
stand that. 

Grand ma : Our Lord wished to prove her humility. 
He expresses in these words that the Jews are his 
children, his favored people, and that to them is 
reserved the bread of his miracles. And, moreover, 
that the race of Canaan are idolaters, and he speaks 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 147 

of them as of a race of dogs, unworthy to receive this 
bread. 

Jane: It is strange to me that our Lord, who was 
so good, should be so severe to this woman. 

Grandma: Our Lord was goodness itself, and 
could not be severe. He was not severe to this poor 
woman, nor is he severe to us when he sends us 
illness and afflictions. He allows these trials only 
to increase our merit; to be able to reward our 
patience and perseverance and resignation, as you will 
see in the case of this poor woman. Very humbly 
she answered our Lord: "Yea, Lord; for the 
whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the 
table of their masters.' 

Looking at her with compassion, Jesus said to her: 
"O woman great is thy faith; be it done to thee as 
thou wilt." 

And the woman, returning to her home, found her 
daughter cured. 

We read of no other miracles performed in this 
country. Jesus left this pagan land, and crossing 
Sidon again reached the Sea of Galilee. 



148 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XLV. 

CURE OF THE DEAF AND DUMB MAN. 

Grandma: When Christ reached the coast of the 
Sea of Galilee a man deaf and dumb was brought to 
him to be cured. 

Jesus taking him aside put his fingers in his ears, 
and wetting his fingers with saliva, touched his 
tongue, then he raised his eyes to heaven, he sighed, 
and said: "Ephpheta, which means, be thou 
opened. And immediately his ears were opened, 
the string of his tongue was loosed, and the 
dumb man spake distinctly. " And all who wit- 
nessed this miracle were in amazement, and they 
said : "He hath done all things well : he hath made 
both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." 

Elizabeth: Why did our Lord do so many and 
such various things to cure this man? In other 
cures he merely spoke and they were healed; but to 
cure this man he puts his fingers in the poor man's 
ears, saliva on his tongue, he raises up his eyes, he 
sighs, and says: "Be thou opened" before the 
man is cured. 

Grandma: This cure is a type or picture given 
for our instruction of the conversion of sinners. This 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 149 

man, we are told, was brought to Jesus. Evidently 
he does not come to Christ of his own accord, and 
even then our Lord has to take him by the hand 
and draw him to himself aside from the crowd. 
This indicates the unwillingness of the sinner to be 
converted. Then our Lord himself has to touch 
the heart of the sinner by his grace. Even that is 
not enough, and Jesus prays to his Father, and lastly, 
it is only when Christ commands that his eyes are 
opened. The sinner at last sees and acknowledges 
his sins, and they are forgiven, by reason of his 
repentance and God's great mercy. 



150 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

JESUS FEEDS THE MULTITUDE. 

Grandma: After this miracle, Jesus withdrew 
to the mountains near the lake. There the multi- 
tude found him. They came in great numbers, 
"bringing with them the dumb, the blind, the 
maimed, and many others, and they cast them down 
at his feet and he healed them. " ' 'So that the multi- 
tude marveled, seeing the dumb speak, the lame 
walk, the blind see, and they glorified the God of 
Israel." 

"And Jesus called together his disciples, and said: 
I have compassion on the multitude, because they 
have been with me now three days and have not 
what to eat, and I will not send them away fasting, 
lest they faint in the way." And the disciples, no 
doubt forgetting how he had miraculously fed the 
five thousand in the wilderness, asked him : ' ' Whence, 
then, can any one fill them with bread here in the 
desert? And he asked them: How many loaves 
have you? But they said: Seven and a few little 
fishes." 

And a second time Jesus multiplied the bread and 
fishes to feed this multitude of hungry people, who had 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 151 

come to hear his word and to be healed. He blessed 
the bread and the fishes and gave them to his disciples 
and they distributed them, and by his almighty 
power there was enough for all, and seven baskets 
full left over. 

1 'And having dismissed the multitude, he went up 
into a boat and came into the coasts of Magedan„" 

Louis: Where was the country of Magedan? 

Grandma: Between Genesareth and Corozain, 
and very near the Sea of Galilee. 



152 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

THE CURE OF THE BLIND MAN. 

Grandma: Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea 
of Galilee to Bethsaida, a town on the seacoast. 
Here they brought to him a blind man, beseeching 
Christ to cure him. Jesus took him by the hand and 
led him aside, and putting spittle on his eyes asked 
him if he saw anything. The blind man looking 
up answered: "I see men as it were trees walking." 
Jesus again laid his blessed hands on the poor, half- 
opened eyes, and the blind man "began to see and 
was restored, so that he saw all things clearly," and 
Jesus sent him back to his house, cured. 

Louis: This miracle reminds me of the deaf and 
dumb man. Our Lord had so much trouble curing 
him also. 

Grandma: Yes; in this instance, also, we see the 
picture of a converted sinner. The soul must leave 
bad habits and evil acquaintances, and go aside with 
Jesus, if it will be cured. In the beginning of his 
conversion, the sinner sees only indistinctly, as did 
the blind man when Jesus first touched his eyes. 
However, he begins to see the world as it is and all 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 153 

things in a better light; but it is only after his soul 
is washed by sacramental grace that his eyes are 
opened. This means, of course, the eyes of his soul. 
He then sees his sins and sees the difference between 
good and evil, and his soul is cured. 



154 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



BOOK FOURTH 

Third Year of the Ministry of Jesus 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 

CHRIST ESTABLISHES PETER HEAD OF HIS CHURCH. 

Grandma: Jesus left Bethsaida in the company 
of his disciples to visit the neighboring villages of 
Judea, situated near the mouth of the Jordan. And 
on the way Jesus put this question to his disciples: 
"Whom do men say that I am?" And they an- 
wered: "Some say John the Baptist; and some say 
Elias ; and others say that one of the former prophets 
is risen again." 

Jesus said to them: "But whom do you say that 
lam?" 

"Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art 
Christ, the Son of the living God." 

"And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art 
thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood 
hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is 
in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter; 
and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will 
give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And 
whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be 
bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt 
loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 155 

Louis: What does " flesh and blood" mean? 
How can flesh and blood reveal anything? 

Grandma: By "flesh and blood" our Lord means 
our human intelligence, which would not have been 
capable of showing St. Peter that Christ was the 
Son of God unless the grace of God had come to his 
aid. 

Henrietta: And what does our Lord mean when 
he says that on St. Peter he will build his Church? 

Grandma: When we plan to build a house, we 
begin by laying a foundation stone, a first stone, on 
which all the other stones will be laid for the erection 
of the building. Likewise, when our Lord planned 
his Church, he established St. Peter as the corner 
stone. It was on this foundation stone, Peter, who 
was the first Pontiff, that the Church of Christ was 
erected. From this beginning it was built up and is 
still being erected, composed of the faithful who 
form the Church. These faithful followers of Christ 
are guided and directed by the Sovereign Pontiff, 
the Holy Father, who is the successor of St. Peter. 
Each one of us is as a stone in this edifice. 

Valentine: What means "the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it" ? 

Grandma: The gates of hell signify the powers of 
hell. These are the spirits of evil, the heretics, the 
unbelievers, who attack the Church of Christ, and 
endeavor to overthrow it. Our Lord promised that 
they would not succeed, because he had established 



156 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

it on a strong foundation, St. Peter, and his suc- 
cessors, the Bishops of Rome. 

The teachings of the Holy Father, who is the 
Bishop of Rome, and his decisions guide the Church 
of Christ to-day. And the faithful yielding him all 
obedience, strong in their faith, will never be over- 
thrown. 

Louis: What keys did our Lord give St. Peter? 

Grandma: This also is what we call a figure of 
speech; that is to say, it holds a meaning, a lesson, 
which I shall give you. 

As a householder gives his overseer all the keys 
which lock up the treasures of his house, Christ gives 
to Peter, whom he has just established Head of the 
Church, power to give out or withhold the treasures 
of that Church. 

All that Peter will bind, that is, condemn, will be 
bound and condemned by our Lord in heaven; all 
that he will approve and forgive, will be approved 
and forgiven in heaven. 

The Pope, as the representative of Christ, is the 
visible Head of the Church. In matters of the 
Christian religion, then, every one owes him, as 
they owe Christ, obedience; and this is true even of 
kings, emperors, and bishops. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 157 



CHAPTER XLTX. 

CHRIST PREDICTS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 

Grandma: Then, still speaking to his disciples, 
our Lord predicted his death. He told them he 
would have to go to Jerusalem to suffer, and that the 
scribes and princes and high priests would put him 
to death; but that on the third day he would rise 
again from the dead. 

Peter, taking our Lord aside, * 'began to rebuke 
him saying: Lord, be it far from thee, this shall not 
be unto thee." But Jesus, turning to Peter, said 
to him: "Go behind me, Satan, thou art a scandal 
unto me; because thou savorest not the things that 
are of God, but the things that are of men." 

Henrietta: Poor St. Peter, why does our Lord 
rebuke him so severely? It does not seem to me he 
said anything wrong. 

Grandma: Our Lord shows Peter his displeasure 
in these strong words, to show him how guilty he 
was to wish to oppose his will to the will of God. He 
teaches Peter and the other disciples that, however 
repugnant and distasteful may be the duties, trials, 
and sorrows of this life, we must accept them with 
love and joy, because they are sent by God. 



158 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

We must not rebel against them, but we must 
perform these duties and bear these hardships 
willingly. 

Around the little group of Apostles the people 
began to gather, and our Lord addressing them all 
added* "If any man will come after me, let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." 

Valentine: What did Christ mean by that? 

Grandma: This means that all of us who wish 
to become good Christians and enter into the king- 
dom of God, must deny ourselves, that is, overcome 
ourselves, conquer our faults and failings. We must 
take up our cross, which means we must bear with- 
out murmuring all the sorrows and sufferings which 
may come to us. It means we must impose on 
ourselves privations for the love of God. 

Valentine: What privations, Grandma? 

Grandma: The privation of what may be a 
pleasure to us, if it is bad for our souls. For ex- 
ample, the idle man will work, though inclined to 
be indolent; the glutton will moderate his appetite; 
the vain man will give up the desire to please and to 
be praised, the liar will strive not to alter the truth; 
those given to anger will endeavor to be gentle and 
patient, though it cost them an effort. All this you 
see includes privations, the denying of our own will. 

When we thus deny ourselves we follow in the 
footsteps of Christ, our Lord, and he will lead us to 
his heavenly kingdom. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 159 

And Christ added: "For whosoever will save his 
life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life 
for my sake, shall find it; for what shall it profit a man 
if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his 
soul?" 

Henry: Must we not try to save our life if we are 
in danger? 

Grandma: Yes; we can and must save our life 
and preserve our life, provided thereby we do not 
deny our Lord. Christ here speaks of those who 
prefer death to denying Christ by sin. These he 
tells us will find eternal life in heaven. On the 
other hand, they who, for the sake of life on earth, 
deny Christ, will be lost eternally. 

What good, indeed, will it do us if, in order to be 
happy in this world for a few years, we should lose 
our soul and be unhappy for all eternity. 



160 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER L. 

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD. 

Grandma : About eight days after this instruction 
to his disciples Christ, taking with him Peter and 
James and John, ascended a steep mountain to 
pray, undisturbed. 

And while our Lord Jesus prayed "his face did 
shine as the sun. and his garments became white as 
snow." 

Peter and the other two Apostles, weary with the 
day's journeyings, had fallen asleep, but the bright 
light, which surrounded Christ aroused them; and 
they awoke to find their Master resplendent with a 
heavenly glory and conversing with two men, whom 
they saw were Moses and Elias. Together they were 
speaking with our Lord of his death, which would 
take place in Jerusalem. Peter bewildered and 
amazed, cried out: "Master, it is good for us to be 
here, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee one 
for Moses, one for Elias!" 

While Peter was still speaking a bright cloud 
enveloped Jesus and Moses and Elias, and from this 
mist the Apostles heard a voice saying: "This is 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 161 

my beloved Son; here ye him." Filled with fear 
at this glorious vision, the Apostles fell prostrate 
on the ground, and Jesus drawing near touched them 
saying: "Arise, and fear not." 

"And they, lifting up their eyes, saw no one, but 
only Jesus. And as they came down from the 
mountain Jesus charged them, saying: Tell the 
vision to no man, till the Son of Man be risen from 
the dead." And the Apostles obeyed our Lord, but 
they questioned among themselves what meant, 
"when he shall be risen from the dead?" 

Jack: What, they did not yet understand what 
our Lord had told them of his death and resurrection ? 

Grandma: Their minds were still unopened to 
the truth. It was needful that Christ should die 
and rise again, and that the light of the Holy Ghost 
should come upon his Apostles before they should 
be strong in their faith. Not until then did they 
understand fully who Christ was, and why he had 
come into this world, why he had died, and how he 
had proved his divinity by his resurrection. 

Henry: And yet we understand all that. 

Grandma: Yes; we understand because of the 
grace of Baptism, which implants in our souls the 
seed of faith, and because of the teachings of the 
Church of Christ. 



162 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER I J. 

THE HEALING OF THE BOY POSSESSED OF THE DEVIL. 

Grandma : The following day, as Jesus came down 
from the mountain with his three Apostles, he saw 
a crowd gathered around the disciples whom he 
had left at the foot of the mount to await his return. 
And, as he drew near, a man from the crowd cried 
out: "Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, 
because he is my only one. And, lo! a spirit seizeth 
him and he suddenly crieth out, and he throweth 
him down and teareth him, so that he foameth and 
gnasheth with the teeth ; and I spoke to thy disciples 
to cast him out, and they were not able." Jesus 
said: "Bring hither thy son." And as the child 
drew near to Jesus, "the devil threw him down 
upon the ground." And Jesus asked the father: 
"How long time is it ince this hath happened unto 
him?" And the father answered: "From his in- 
fancy. And oftentimes hath he (the evil spirit) cast 
him into the fire and into water to destroy him. 
But if thou canst do anything, help us, having com- 
passion on us. Jesus said to him: If thou canst 
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 
And immediately the father of the boy cried out, 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 163 

with tears said ; I do believe, Lord, help thou my 
unbelief." And Jesus threatened the unclean spirit, 
saying: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, 
go out of him, and enter not any more into him." 

And crying out, the evil spirit left the child, who 
lay on the ground as if dead. 

"But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up 
and he rose," and Jesus gave him to his father 
restored to health. 

Jane: Why could not the disciples cure this 
child? 

Grandma: Because they had not sufficient faith 
in the power Christ Jesus had given them. 

Henry: And why does our Lord ask the father to 
believe before he cures the child? It would not have 
been the child's fault if his father had not believed. 

Grandma: It was the father who asked the cure 
of his son. It was to the father our Lord granted 
the cure. And the father had to deserve it by his 
faith in the power of Christ, whose aid he sought. 

Elizabeth: Why does our Lord say : "Thou deaf 
and dumb spirit?" 

Grandma: Because the evil spirit had made the 
poor boy deaf and dumb. 

Elizabeth: Are there persons to-day possessed of 
the devil? 

Grandma: In Christian countries, since the com- 
ing of Christ, it is very rare. However, it is not 



164 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

unknown in pagan countries. In China, for in- 
stance, there are such cases. 

Elizabeth: And how are they cured, these poor 
people? 

Grandma: They are exorcised; that is to say, 
that the priest sprinkles them with holy water, says 
certain prayers over them and for them, and often 
obtains their deliverance from the power of the evil 
one. 

Camille: A few days ago, when I was visiting 
with mother, I heard some one say that there was 
no such thing as possession by the devil; that persons 
who seemed so afflicted were only ill. 

Grandma: Those who speak thus, either do not 
reflect, or have not sufficient faith. If we believe 
in the Bible, we must necessarily believe in the devil 
and the possibility of his taking possession of us. 
Unfortunately, cases of possession do exist, and we 
can't disbelieve them. But if we live good, pure, 
Christian lives, we are under the protection of our 
Lord, who is all-powerful, and consequently we are 
safe from the power of Satan. 

While the people wondered among themselves 
at this miracle, our Lord entered the house. His 
disciples asked him: "Why could we not cast out 
the devil?" And Jesus answered them: "Because 
of your unbelief. For, amen, I say to you, if ye 
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 165 

this mountain: Remove from hence, and it shall 
remove, and nothing will be impossible to you. 

Leaving the neighborhood of Mount Tabor, 
Jesus and his disciples took the road to Capernaum. 
On the way Jesus said to them: "The Son of Man 
shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they 
shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall 
rise again the third day." 

But the disciples did not understand these words, 
though they were very clear and easy to comprehend. 



166 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LH. 

JESUS PAYS THE TRIBUTE MONEY. 

Grandma: Having reached Capernaum, the 
collector of taxes drew near to St. Peter and said to 
him. "Doth not your Master pay the two di- 
drachma for the tribute?" 

Paul : What was the tribute ? 

Grandma: The tribute is a certain sum of money 
which all conquered countries must pay every year 
to their conquerors. The Jews, therefore, owed 
tribute to the Romans since the conquest of Judea 
by Rome. 

Little Louis: What is the didrachma? 

Grandma: A didrachma is a small piece of money 
worth about ten cents of our money. 

"Yes;" Peter replied, "he pays it." And going 
into the house, Peter spoke to our Lord of the demand 
of the tax gatherer. Jesus explained to St. Peter 
that, being king of earth and heaven, he did not owe 
this tribute; but, added Jesus, "that we may not 
scandalize them go to the sea, and cast in a hook; 
and that fish which shall first come up, take; and 
when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 167 

a stater; take that, and give it to them for thee and 
forme." 

Henrietta: What is a stater? 

Grandma: A stater is a piece of money worth 
about four didrachmas, that would be forty cents 
of our money. And so our Lord paid the tribute 
for himself and St. Peter, in obedience to the law.! 



168 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LIU. 

DISPUTE AMONG THE DISCIPLES. 

Grandma: When they had re-entered the house, 
Jesus asked his disciples: "What were you dis- 
cussing on the road?" The disciples quite abashed 
did not reply, "for on the way they had disputed 
among themselves, which of them should be greatest !" 
And Christ seating himself drew a little child to him, 
and held the little one in his embrace, and to his 
disciples he said: "If any man desire to be first, 
he shall be the last of all, and the servant of all.'' 

Louis : Why should such a man be the last of all? 

Grandma: This expression, the last of all, means 
here the most humble. Our Lord loves the humble- 
minded; he abhors the proud. When we are the 
least in our own esteem; when we realize our sinful- 
ness, and how little we deserve reward, then our 
soul is prepared to receive the graces of God. Then 
we are near to sanctity and to the bliss of heaven. 

And after embracing the little child, he set him 
in the midst of them and said to them: "Amen I 
say to you, unless you be converted, and become as 
little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 169 

himself as this little child, he is the greater in the 
kingdom of heaven. And he that shall receive one 
such little child in my name, receiveth me. But 
he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that 
believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- 
stone should be hanged about his neck, and that he 
should be drowned in the depth of the sea." 

Henrietta: It must be a terrible thing then to 
scandalize a child. 

Grandma: You see how terrible our Lord thinks 
it is, since he tells his disciples it were better for the 
culprit to be drowned in the depths of the sea. It is, 
indeed, dreadfully wicked to scandalize a little child ; 
to teach him evil ways ; to lessen his faith ; to kill the 
life of his soul; those souls of little children, so in- 
nocent and pure. 

When you grow up, my little children, love the 
little ones as our Lord loved them. Be good and 
gentle to them ; instruct them ; give them good advice 
and good example; comfort them in their little 
difficulties. Never take advantage of your greater 
strength over those that are without means of de- 
fence, but sweeten their lives and teach them gentle- 
ness and love. Train their young hearts to the love 
of God. Imitate our Lord, love them, embrace 
them, and remember these words of Christ: "He 
that shall receive a little child in my name receiveth 
me." 



170 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Camille: Grandma, is that the reason you love 
little children so much? 

Grandma: Yes, little one; for that reason, and 
also because I naturally love little children. 

Our Lord continued teaching his disciples, saying 
to them: "And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut 
it off—" 

Henrietta: Oh, my! this is the second time our 
Lord says this ! 

Grandma, continuing: "It is better for thee to 
enter into life maimed than having two hands to go 
into hell. And if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. 
It is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting, 
than having two feet to be cast into the hell of un- 
quenchable fire, where the fire is not extinguished. And 
if thy eye scandalize thee pluck it out. It is better 
for thee with one eye to enter into the kingdom of 
God than, having two eyes, to be cast into the hell 
of fire." 

Henrietta: Grandma, it is really impossible to 
obey our Lord's command. I, for one, won't cut 
off my hands arid feet and pluck out my eyes. 

Grandma: You have already forgotten what 
I told you only a few days ago, that our Lord speaks 
by means of comparisons, of figures of speech. He 
wants to teach us that we must be ready to sacrifice 
even the most necessary, even the most innocent 
things, rather than commit a sin. As a figure of 
speech, you will cut off your hands and your feet by 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 171 

preventing them, through your will, to do evil. 
Twice does our Lord repeat this precept, in order to 
show us how necessary such a determination is to us. 
Our Lord ended this instruction by telling his 
disciples that when two or three persons were gathered 
together to pray, their request would be answered 
by their Father in heaven; for, said Jesus: " Where 
there are two or three gathered together in my name, 
there I am in the midst of them.' , 



172 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LIV. 

PARABLE OF THE KING AND HIS SERVANTS. 

Grandma: Peter, who had listened to this beauti- 
ful discourse, drew near to Jesus and said: "Lord 
how often shall my brother offend against me, and 
I forgive him? till seven times?" 

Jesus answered: "I say not to thee, till seven 
times; but till seventy times seven times." 

Henry: Why does our Lord mention this special 
number? 

Grandma: This large number signified that we 
must forgive always, and always without growing 
weary 

And, continued our Lord: "Therefore is the 
kingdom of heaven likened to a king, who would 
take an account of his servants. And when he had 
begun to take the account, one was brought to him 
that owed him ten thousand talents." 

Mary Theresa: What is a talent? 

Grandma: A talent was a piece of money used 
by the Hebrews, and worth about one thousand 
nine hundred dollars of our money. In mentioning 
ten thousand talents, our Lord wishes to indicate a 
very large sum. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 173 

"And as the servant had not wherewith to pay it, 
his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his 
wife and children and all that he had, and payment 
to be made." 

Valentine: What a wicked king! 

Grandma: Wait and you will hear the end of 
this parable: "But that servant falling down, 
besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and 
I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, 
being moved with pity, let him go and forgave 
him his debt. But when that servant had 
gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that 
owed him a hundred pence." 

Paul: What is a pence? 

Grandma: A pence is a small piece of Roman 
money, worth about eighteen cents. 

The servant having met his fellow-servant, who 
owed him one hundred pence, "throttled him, 
saying: Pay what thou owest. And his fellow- 
servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have 
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he 
would not; but went and cast him into prison, till 
he paid his debt. Now his fellow-servants, seeing 
what was done, were very much grieved, and they 
came and told their lord all that was done. Then 
his lord called him, and said to him: Thou wicked 
servant, I forgave thee all thy debt, because thou 
besoughtest me. Shouldst not thou then have had 
compassion also on thy fellow- servant, even as 



174 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

I had compassion on thee. And his lord, being 
angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid 
all his debt. So, also, shall my heavenly father do 
to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from 
your hearts." 

Louis: However, Grandma, if we owe money we 
have to pay it. Would it not be dishonest not to 
pay back what we borrow? 

Grandma: Our Lord in this parable uses money 
as an example. He means the forgiveness of injuries, 
the pardon of offences. The wicked servant owed 
the king a large sum, that is to say he had greatly 
offended his king, as we may have committed many 
offences against God. His master determines to 
punish him by imprisonment for those things of 
which he is guilty. The servant, frightened, begs 
pardon of his lord, implores his mercy, promises to 
atone by good conduct in the future. The master is 
good; he is moved to pity, and he forgives his servant. 
Though not in money, it is really a debt the master 
remits, or forgives. The wicked servant meets a 
man who has only slightly offended him. He lays 
hold of him and casts him into prison. This means, 
he returns him evil for evil, does him injury, and this 
in spite of the supplications of his enemy, who 
promises to be his friend in the future, thus to repay 
or atone for the wrong he has done him. Then the 
king, seeing that the wicked servant had taken no 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 175 

heed of the example of forgiveness of injuries which 
he had but now given him, withdrew his forgiveness. 
This parable shows us plainly that we should be 
charitable and forgive our enemies, if we wish the 
good God, our Divine Master, to forgive us our sins. 



176 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE SAMARITANS REFUSE TO RECEIVE JESUS. 

Grandma: Our Lord, with his Apostles, took 
the road to Jerusalem. On the way they came to a 
Samaritan village, and Christ sent his disciples 
ahead to prepare a lodging place for them. 

But the inhabitants of Samaria hated the Jews, 
and would not receive them into their city. The 
disciples, James and John, returned to Jesus, saying: 
"Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come 
down from heaven, and consume them? But Jesus 
rebuked them, saying: You know not of what 
spirit you are." 

Mary Theresa: What did that mean, Grandma? 

Grandma: Our Lord meant: you forget that ye 
should have the spirit of charity, which is the spirit 
of God, my spirit, I who am all meekness and all 
charity. Then our Lord added: "The Son of God 
came not to destroy souls, but to save." And they 
went further into another village, and as they jour- 
neyed a man drew near to our Lord saying: "I will 
follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said to 
him: The foxes have holes and the birds of the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 177 

air have nests: but the Son of Man hath not where 
to lay his head." 

Jane: Poor Jesus! he had not even' a little house 
of his own. 

Grandma: If Christ had willed it, he could have 
had all the wealth of the world; but he willed to 
spend all the days of his earthly life in poverty, des- 
titute of all things, to give us an example of detach- 
ment from riches and the things of this world. 

Therefore, to those who felt drawn to follow him, 
but hesitated because the affairs of this world 
detained them, our Lord said: "No man putting 
his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the 
kingdom of God." 

Valentin e : What does that mean ? 

Grandma: This means that he is a poor servant 
who, after having begun to work for God and to 
serve him, casts a backward glance of regret on the 
friends and pleasures he has left. He will soon leave 
the plow, which means the life of mortification and 
of penance, and abandon God's service for the world. 



178 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LVI. 

PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

Grandma: One day a Doctor of the Law said to 
Jesus: " Master, what shall I do to obtain eternal 
life?" Jesus saw at a glance that this man ques- 
tioned him not in order to learn, but hoping to 
induce our Lord to answer something that would 
displease the people. None the less Christ deigns 
to teach him; and replies by a question: "What 
is written in the law?" The lawyer answered: 
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole 
heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole 
strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbor as 
thyself." And Jesus said to him: "Thou hast 
answered right; this do, and thou shalt live." But 
the lawyer, wishing to appear eager to understand 
the law, asked our Lord who was his neighbor? 
And Jesus replied : "A certain man went from Jeru- 
salem to Jericho — " 

Little Louis: Was Jericho very far away? 

Grandma: Jericho was a city about ten miles 
from Jerusalem. 

Well, this man going to Jericho "fell among 
robbers, who stripped him, and having wounded him 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 179 

went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced 
a certain priest went down the same way; and 
seeing him, passed by. In like manner, also, a 
Levite, when he was near the place, saw him, and 
passed by. But a certain Samaritan, being on his 
journey, came near him, and seeing him was moved 
with compassion. And going up to him, bound up 
his wounds, pouring in oil and wine ; and setting him 
upon his own beast, brought him to an inn and 
took care of him. And the next day he took out two 
pence, and give it to the host, and said: Take care 
of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and 
above, I, at my return, will repay thee." 

And our Lord asked the lawyer which of these 
three men had shown himself neighbor to the poor 
man? and he answered: "He that showed mercy 
to him. And Jesus said to him: Go, and do thou 
in like manner." 

Henry: Grandma, why does our Lord give a 
parable in which he shows the priests and Levites 
as unkind to this poor man, and the Samaritan good 
to him? Yet, the priests were Jews, and his chosen 
people, were they not? 

Grandma: Our Lord purposely tells this parable 
to humble the Levites and priests, who thought 
themselves superior to all other men, and who 
despised the Samaritans especially. He wished to 
teach that all men had a right to God's grace and 
favor, and that he had come to save all men. 



180 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LVII. 

MARTHA AND MARY. 

Grandma: Jesus, in his journey through Judea, 
stopped on the way at the village of Bethany. Here 
dwelt Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, and with him his 
two sisters, Martha and Mary. In their house our 
Lord stopped and accepted the hospitality they 
offered him. 

While Martha busied herself with great concern 
to prepare the evening meal for our Lord, and all 
things needful to his comfort, Mary sat at our Lord's 
feet listening to his words. Martha said to Christ: 
"Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left 
me alone to serve? Speak to her, therefore, that 
she help me. And the Lord answering said to her: 
Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled 
about many things. But one thing is necessary. 
Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be 
taken away from her." 

Louis: It seems to me Martha was right in com- 
plaining that Mary did not help her; for, after all, 
Martha was very busy because she wanted to give 
Jesus a good meal. 







r w*> 



Martha and Mary 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 181 

Grandma: And our Lord does not blame her. 
He only shows her that those things which fill her 
mind are of very little importance. He tells her 
only one thing is necessary. 

Jack: And he don't tell her what that one thing 
is? 

Grandma: Yes; he indicates plainly what it is; 
for he says: Mary has chosen the better part, 
which is to remain near him listening to his words 
and drawing profit from his teaching. And Christ 
adds, that he will not compel her to give up this 
happiness. 

Jack: Then Martha had to do the work alone? 

Grandma: It is likely Martha had servants to 
carry out her orders, for Lazarus was a rich man. 
Herein our Lord gives Martha, as well as ourselves, 
a lesson. He warns us against worrying and fretting 
over the things of this world to the extent of neg- 
lecting the things of God. 

Jack: But some one had to prepare what our 
Lord needed. 

Grandma: Yes; but not at the cost of neglecting 
our Lord himself. Here we see Martha leaving our 
Lord's company to prepare for him a good evening 
meal, for which our Lord cared very little. 

Jane: That's true, she should have given her 
orders to the servants, and listened to our Lord, 
together with Mary. 

Grandma: This reproach which Martha made to 



182 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Mary Magdalene, and to which our Lord replies so 
clearly, is still made by people living in the world 
to those who are living in convents. They judge 
that the religious are leading useless lives. But to 
this reproach we have the reply of our Lord to Martha, 
that they have chosen the better part, which shall 
not be taken from them. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 183 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

THE BARREN FIG TREE. 

Grandma: One day our Lord gave the following 
parable to his disciples: "A certain man had a fig 
tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking 
fruit on it, and found none. And he said to the 
dresser of the vineyard : Behold, for these three years 
I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. 
Cut it down, therefore; why cumbereth it the 
ground? But he, answering, said to him: Lord, 
let it alone this year also, until I dig about it, and 
dung it. And if happily it bear fruit; but if not, 
then after that thou shalt cut it down." 

Valentine: What does this parable mean, 
Grandma? 

Grandma: The fig tree, cultivated and carefully 
tended, is the figure of a soul encouraged and 
trained to bear fruit — the fruits of good deeds. The 
good God waits patiently, but seeing that this soul 
bears no fruit in spite of the care lavished upon it by 
the vine dresser, who represents the priests, he 
orders that it be cut down. This means abandoned, 
left to itself. But the priest intercedes for this soul, 



184 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

and begs our Lord to wait, pleading that, with time, 
this soul may be converted and bear fruit for his 
kingdom. And the voice of the priest is heard. 
God is good and consents to wait. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 185 



CHAPTER LIX. 

THE CURE OF THE WOMAN BENT DOUBLE. 

Grandma: One Sabbath day our Lord was 
teaching in the synagogue and " there was a woman 
who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years ; and she 
was bowed together, neither could she look upwards 
at all." Jesus seeing the poor woman so grievously 
afflicted, called her to him and said to her : ' ' Woman , 
thou art delivered from thy infirmity. And he laid 
his hands upon her, and immediately she was made 
straight and glorified God." 

And the ruler of the synagogue was angry that 
Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day and he said 
to the people: "Six days there are wherein you 
ought to work. In them, therefore, come and be 
healed; and not on the Sabbath day." 

But Jesus replied: "Ye hypocrites, doth not 
every one of you, on the Sabbath day, loose his ox 
or his ass from the manger, and lead them to water? 
And ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom 
Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be 
loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" And 
the enemies of our Lord were ashamed when they 
heard his wise answer, and the people around 
wondered at his wisdom. 



186 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LX. 

CHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 

Grandma: One day, as Christ neared Jerusalem, 
looking down on the city from one of the surrounding 
hills he wept, saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that 
are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered 
thy children, as the hen doth her brood under her 
wings, and thou wouldst not." 

Paul: Grandma, what means to stone? 

Grandma: To stone was to put to death; to kill 
by throwing stones at the victim. This was a 
means of torture among the Jews. 

Jane: Why does our Lord say he would have 
gathered the children of Jerusalem under his wings? 

Grandma: Our Lord sighed and wept over Jeru- 
salem with these sad words, because Jerusalem 
being the capital of Judea, the place where the Jews 
gathered, our Lord had many times gone thither to 
instruct the Jewish people and to deliver them from 
the power of the evil one; to bring them salvation; 
to teach them the truth; and they would not listen 
to him. Then he added these words, predicting 
the downfall of Jerusalem: "Your houses shall be 
deserted; you shall not see me till you shall say: 
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 187 



CHAPTER LXL 

A PARABLE ON HUMILITY. 

Grandma: One day Jesus was invited to the 
house of a Pharisee to take dinner; and seeing that 
the guests who were invited were disputing among 
themselves as to who should have the first seat, he 
gave them a lesson in humility, saying: 

"When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not 
down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honor- 
able than thou be invited by him; and he that in- 
vited thee and him, come and say to thee: Give 
this man place; and then thou begin with shame 
to take the lowest place. But when thou art in- 
vited, go, sit down in the lowest place; that when 
he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: 
Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have glory 
before them that sit at table with thee. Because 
every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled ; 
and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted." 

Peter: Grandma, I don't see that this is a lesson 
in humility. It seems to me an example of pride. 

Grandma: Where do you see pride, little one? 

Peter: Our Lord tells them when they are in- 
vited they must not take the first place, but must 



188 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

take the last place. He don't say to do this through 
humility, but that the master of the feast may give 
them a better place. 

Grandma: This parable is a comparison, and 
comparisons are never perfect. But if you listen 
carefully, and try to follow our Lord's thought, you 
will see that he wants to teach principally that 
they should not choose the first places. He tells 
them that all men who strive to be exalted will be 
humbled before God, and often also before men. 

Our Lord spoke also to his host, and said to him: 
"When thou maketh a dinner or a supper, call not 
thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor 
thy neighbors who are rich; lest perhaps they also 
invite thee again, and a recompense be made to thee. 
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the 
maimed, the lame, and the blind. And thou shalt be 
blessed, because they have not wherewith to make 
thee recompense ; for recompense shall be made thee 
at the resurrection of the just." 

Henrietta: Then, Grandma, why do you invite 
us to dinner, and the ladies and gentlemen of the 
neighborhood who are rich and ask you to dine with 
them ? Why don 't you invite the poor of the village ? 

Grandma: Our Lord does not forbid us to show 
hospitality to our kinsmen and to the rich. He 
teaches us that we must never do good in order to 
receive a reward. He uses dinners and feasts to 
represent all kinds of courtesies and kind services, 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 189 

which he wants us to give all men, not that they may 
return these kindnesses to us, but to obey the com- 
mand of God. He also teaches us we must desire 
reward only from God and God alone. 



190 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XLII. 

PARABLE OF THE FEAST. 

Grandma: One of the guests seated at the table, 
whom the Gospel does not name, said to our Lord: 
"Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom 
of God." 

To whom our Lord replied by another parable. 
"A certain man made a great supper, and invited 
many. And he sent his servant at the hour of sup- 
per to say to them that were invited, that they 
should come, for now all things are ready. And they 
began all at once to make excuse. The first said 
to him: I have bought a farm, and I must needs 
go out and see it; I pray thee, hold me excused. 
And another said: I have bought five yoke of 
oxen, and I go to try them; I pray thee, hold me 
excused. And another said: I have married a 
wife, and therefore I cannot come. And the ser- 
vant returning told these things to his lord. Then 
the master of the house, being angry, said to his 
servant : Go out quickly into the streets and lanes 
of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the 
feeble, and the blind, and the lame. And the ser- 
vant said: Lord, it is done as thou hast com- 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 191 

manded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said 
to the servant : Go out into the highways and hed- 
ges, and compel them to come in, that my house may 
be filled. But I say unto you, that none of those 
men that were invited shall taste of my supper." 

Jack: What does our Lord mean by this parable ? 
Must we really compel people to come to our feasts, 
when the invited ones don't come? 

Grandma: No, dear child; this parable signifies 
the feast to which we are one and all invited — to the 
joys of paradise; to the kingdom of heaven. Our 
Lord gives this parable in reply to the guest who 
speaks of the feast in the kingdom of God, and of 
the happiness of being gathered there. 

The meaning is this: the Jews were the first 
who had the happiness of being invited to this king- 
dom; the first bidden to sit at their Father's table. 
However, instead of accepting with gladness, they 
let themselves be led away by the pleasures of this 
world, even as we do to-day. One has not the time 
to serve God, he has too many things to see to; 
another has pleasures, balls, parties, which fill every 
hour of his day. Another has interesting books, 
charming friends, worldly pursuits, which take up 
his time so fully, he has not a moment free for God's 
service. Another is delicate and has a large family, 
and so on. The Master, who is God, sends his 
servants, the priests, to warn them, to tell them that 
the feast is spread, that they must hold themselves 



192 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

in readiness to reply to our Lord's invitation. They 
do not harken to God's call, they refuse to hear the 
voice of the priests. Then God sends his ministers 
to foreign shores to convert the heathens and 
pagans. These heed the voice of God's messengers, 
and come in large numbers to the heavenly banquet. 
That is to say, these are converted and learn the 
truths of God's kingdom. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 193 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

WE ARE TO IvOVE GOD ABOVE AU,. 

Grandma: One day as our Lord was walking, 
followed by a large crowd, he turned and said to 
them: "If any man come to me, and hate not his 
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and 
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he 
cannot be my disciple." 

Jane: Grandma, that would be wrong, it seems 
to me, to hate our relations. 

Grandma: You forget that our Lord speaks 
figuratively, as when he speaks of cutting off our 
hands and our feet, if they are to us an occasion of 
sin. Our Lord here means that if we wish to be 
his friends and disciples, we must fear sin and avoid 
temptation with such care that if it came to us, even 
through our parents and those we love best, we 
must turn from them, in spite of the love we bear 
them and the respect we owe them. 

Louis: Grandma, how could evil come to us 
from our parents and sisters and brothers? 

Grandma: In the early centuries, after the 
coming of Christ — 



194 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Paul : What are centuries ? 

Grandma: A century is one hundred years. In 
these first centuries the Roman emperors martyred 
the Christians. 

Henry: What is martyred? 

Grandma: Martyred means put to death for 
truth's sake. The Roman emperors forbade the 
Christians to believe in Christ Jesus, and in order to 
force them to deny Christ and adore idols, they 
tortured them, martyred them most cruelly. These 
noble Christians preferred to die in torments rather 
than to deny their faith in Christ. They are, 
therefore, called martyrs. 

To reply to Louis, I add that in these early days 
the first Christians had to obey our Lord's command 
of hating father and mother, in order to follow him. 
For their pagan parents and friends, not believing 
in Christ, tempted these martyrs to deny Christ, that 
their lives might be spared. 

The martyrs turned away from the entreaties of 
those most dear to them, and for the love of Christ 
fled from the love of father, mother, sister, and 
brother, rather than deny Jesus. Now and always 
we must obey Christ Jesus, even if we have to give 
up our most beloved friends, our most tender 
affections. This is to love our Lord above all things. 

Our Lord added: "And whosoever doth not 
carry his cross and come after me, is not worthy 
of me." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 195 

Jane: How can we carry a cross and follow Jesus ? 

Grandma: It is as if our Lord said to us: He 
who does not conquer his evil habits, he who does 
not bear with resignation the trials of this life, he who 
does not sacrifice pleasure to duty, and follow me, 
by imitating my charity, meekness, and patience, 
such a one cannot be my disciple, such a one can- 
not enter the kingdom of heaven. 



196 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

PARABLE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND OF THE 
LOST GROAT. 

Grandma: The Publicans and sinners drew 
near to Jesus to hear his words. "And the Pharisees 
and scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth 
sinners, and eateth with them." 

And turning to these men Christ spoke to them 
this parable : "What man of you that hath an hun- 
dred sheep : and if he shall lose one of them, doth 
he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go 
after that which was lost, until he find it? And 
when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, 
rejoicing; and coming home, call together his friends 
and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, 
because I have found my sheep that was lost? I 
say to you, that even so there shall be joy in 
heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more 
than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. 
Or what woman having ten groats — " 

Paul : What is a groat ? 

Grandma: A groat is a silver piece worth about 
ten cents of our money. Our Lord said: "What 
woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 197 

doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and 
seek diligently until she find it? And when she 
hath found it, call together her friends and neigh- 
bors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I 
have found the groat which I had lost?" 

And looking tenderly on the sinners, who were 
listening eagerly, our Lord added: "So I say to 
you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon 
one sinner doing penance." 



198 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXV. 

THE PRODIGAL SON. 

Grandma: Christ gave still another parable to 
show the mercy of God for repentant sinners. Still 
addressing the multitude, among whom were doubt- 
less many sinners, our Lord said: "A certain man 
had two sons; and the younger of them said to his 
father: Father, give me the portion of substance 
that falleth to me. And he devided unto them his 
substance. And not many days after, the younger 
son went abroad into a far country, and there wasted 
his substance, living riotously. And after he has 
spent all, there came a mighty famine in that 
country." 

Paul : What is a famine ? 

Grandma: A famine is a time of such scarcity 
of food that every one is hungry. The corn and the 
wheat have failed and there is little or no food for 
any one. Well, in that country there was a famine 
and he began to suffer with hunger; and he hired 
himself out on a farm to feed the swine. Willingly 
he would have eaten the food given to the hogs, for 
no one gave him anything to eat. And he thought 
to himself: "How many hired servants in my 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 199 

father's house abound with bread, and I here perish 
with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, 
and say to him: Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and before thee. I am not now worthy to 
be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired 
servants." 

"And rising up he came to his father. And 
when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, 
and was moved with compassion, and running to 
him fell upon his neck and kissed him. And the 
son said to him: Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and before thee. I am not now worthy to 
be called thy son." 

But the father only answered by embracing him, 
and said to the servants: "Bring forth quickly the 
first robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his 
hand and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the 
fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry, 
because this my son was dead, and is come to life 
again; was lost, and is found. And they began to 
be merry." 

Jack: How happy that son must have been! 
I wonder if I ran away and spent all my money, if 
my father would treat me that way if I came back? 

Grandma: Perhaps he would, because he is a 
very good father; but perhaps he would not be so 
forgiving, for though a very good father, he is not 
as good as the Good God. This parable speaks of 
God, our heavenly Father, of his goodness to us, 



200 THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 

sinful men. First our Lord tells us of the son, happy 
in his father's house, but who believes he would be 
happier far from home. 

This may be a description of any one of us. We 
live happily under the law of God. Some day we 
are tempted to believe that far from God and the 
restraint of his law we may be happier. We give up 
our prayers, our good habits, the practice of virtue; 
we are led away by the pleasures of this world and 
we withdraw from God. We waste our health, our 
fortune, and our happiness in all kinds of worldly 
follies. When we are unhappy and the world 
thrusts us aside, when we suffer from want of love 
and of sympathy, then we recall our former happiness, 
and the peace of conscience we enjoyed when we 
were innocent. And if we have the courage, we 
make a brave resolve to leave this strange land, 
which is indeed a strange land to all good Christians, 
and to return to God, our Father. 

We leave, therefore, this country with its people, 
which are our sins and vices; we go to our Father; 
we humble ourselves, we confess our sins, we ac- 
knowledge we are unworthy of his forgiveness. Our 
heavenly Father, instead of driving us from him, runs 
to meet us, that is to say, helps our repentance, gives 
us the grace to be humble. He gives us back our 
place among his servants and faithful friends, 
among good Christians. He invites us to his table 
of Holy Communion, and feeds us with his own body 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 201 

and blood. All the past is forgiven and forgotten. 

This parable is called: "The Prodigal Son/' and 
perhaps more than any other parable expresses the 
great goodness and great mercy of God. If any 
one of you, but I hope, indeed, you never will, offend 
God, our Father, like this prodigal son, do not lose 
courage. Remember that God is infinitely good, 
recognize your faults, pray God's pardon and confess 
them humbly and sincerely. The good God will 
open wide his arms and heart to you and will give 
you back your lost peace and joy. 

When the prodigal son came home, his elder 
brother was in the field, "and when he drew nigh to 
the house, he heard music and dancing. And he 
called one of the servants, and asked what these 
things meant. And he said to him* Thy brother 
is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, be- 
cause he hath received him safe. And he was angry 
and would not go in. His father, therefore, coming 
out began to entreat him. And he answering, said 
to his father : Behold, for so many years do I serve 
thee, and I have never transgressed thy command- 
ment, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to 
make merry with my friends. But as soon as this 
thy son is come, who hath devoured his substance, 
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. But he 
said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and 
all I have is thine. But it was fit we should make 
merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, 



202 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found." 
Jack: If I had been in that father's place I 
would have been very angry with that son who is 
jealous because his brother, who comes back re- 
pentant and unhappy, is so well received. 

Grandma: The good father in the parable re- 
presents God our Father, who is more forgiving, 
more tender than you would ever be, my little Jack. 
He reproves the son with kindness. In the parable 
you see he leaves the hall of feasting to ask his son 
to come in; he listens to him with patience; he ex- 
plains to him why he receives the brother with so 
much joy. Here also, in the dealings of the father 
with his eldest son, our Lord shows us the patience 
and goodness of our heavenly Father in dealing with 
us. 

See how patiently he bears with us, how lovingly 
he treats us. He waits for us, and when we come 
back to him, he rewards us, as if we had never 
offended him. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 203 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 

Grandma: One day, addressing the Pharisees, 
Jesus spoke to them this parable: "There was a 
certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and 
fine linen — " 

Paul: What is purple? 

Grandma: It was a very rare and very beautiful 
material, which was woven of threads dyed with 
that precious color. Our Lord by this discription 
indicates the man was rich and wore costly garments. 

And our Lord added how "each day he fared 
sumptuously. And there was a certain beggar, 
named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, and 
desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the 
rich man's table, and no one did give him any. 
Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And 
it came to pass, that the beggar died and was 
carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." 

Elizabeth: What does that mean, Grandma? 

Grandma: It is an expression which means the 
kingdom of heaven, where the beggar was carried, 
to be happy eternally. 



204 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

"And the rich man also died; and he was buried 
in hell. And lifting up his eyes when he was in 
torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus 
in his bosom; and he cried, and said: Father 
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send me Lazarus, 
that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool 
my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. And 
Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou 
didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and like- 
wise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, 
and thou art tormented. 

"And besides all this, between us and you there is 
fixed a great chaos; so that they who would pass 
from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come 
hither. 

4 'And he said: Then, Father, I beseech thee, that 
thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I 
have five brethren, that he may testify to them, lest 
they also come into this place of torments. 

"And Abraham said to him: They have Moses 
and the prophets; let them hear them. But he 
answered: No, Father Abraham; but if one went 
to them from the dead, they will do penance. And 
he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the 
prophets, neither will they believe if one rise again 
from the dead." 

Madeleine: This is a terrible parable. 

Grandma: Yes; terrible for the rich who do not 
use their wealth well, as there are, unfortunately, 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 205 

many. You see, our Lord does not say that the 
rich man was wicked or unjust, but only that he 
dressed gorgeously and ate sumptuously; that he 
lived in the midst of pleasures and luxury. He did 
not drive Lazarus from his gate where he lay, but 
he did not think of him, he did not succor him, he 
did not feed him. It was for this life of indolence 
and uselessness, for his indifference to the sufferings 
of Lazarus, that the rich man was cast into hell. 
The rich who live in opulence and do not give to the 
poor, but spend their wealth seeking pleasures, are 
described by this rich man. 

Such people prepare for themselves an eternity 
of unhappiness in exchange for a few years of en- 
joyment here below. The rich man asks for a drop 
of water to refresh his parched tongue. This is 
denied him. He asks that the dead be sent to warn 
his brethren, but this also is refused, for these 
brothers had the means of knowing their duty. 
They heard the truths of God's kingdom preached 
by the prophets; and if they refused to believe God's 
messengers, they would not even believe if one risen 
from the dead had come to them. 

Christ continued speaking to the multitude, and 
he converted many. 

The Pharisees heard how the multitude praised 
Jesus, they saw the miracles that he did and the 
admiration in which the people held him. They 



206 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

grew daily more jealous and angry. They had 
decided among themselves to put Jesus to death, and 
they were seeking an occasion to condemn him. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 207 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

THE PHARISEES SEEK TO I.AY HOLD OF JESUS. 

Grandma: On the last day of the Feast of the 
Tabernacles— 

Louis : What was that feast ? 

Grandma: The Feast of the Tabernacles was 
instituted by the Jewish people, in remembrance of 
their journey in the desert, when they had fled from 
Egypt. It lasted eight days, and to recall to mind 
those days when they had dwelt in tents, the people 
of Jerusalem spent these days in tents made of the 
boughs of trees. 

On the last day of this festival the Pharisees sent 
men to lay hold of our Lord and seize him while he 
spoke to the people. But Christ Jesus spoke so 
well, he inspired such love and confidence, that these 
men dared not apprehend him, and they returned 
to the head priest, saying. "Never did man speak 
like this man." 

The Pharisees answered angrily: "Are you also 
seduced? Hath any one of the rulers believed in 
him, or of the Pharisees? But this multitude, that 
knoweth not the law, are accursed." 

Jack: Were they accursed ? 



208 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grand ma : No ; but the Pharisees in their arrogant 
pride said this, for they considered that they alone 
had the right to teach. Yet these simple people 
were nearer the truth than they. 

This happens even in our day and everywhere. 
Men of science think themselves more learned and 
wise than the simple souls who are humbly studying 
the lives of the saints, and who, enlightened by 
God's spirit, have often a deeper knowledge than 
the wise of this world. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 209 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 

THE SINFUL WOMAN. 

Grandma: I shall now relate to you another 
instance of our Lord's great goodness and mercy. 
One day after having prayed on Mount Olivet, our 
Lord went to the temple to teach the people. The 
Scribes and Pharisees brought him a wicked woman 
who had deceived her husband. And they told 
our Lord how her evil ways had been found out, and 
said they: "Moses in the law commanded us to 
stone such a one; but what sayest Thou?" 

Our Lord read their thoughts, and knew they had 
brought this woman to him not to consult him, but 
in an evil spirit, hoping to find cause of complaint 
against him. If he had ordered her to be stoned 
they would have accused him of cruelty; or of dis- 
obeying the law of Moses, if he had forgiven her. 

"But Jesus, bowing himself down, wrote with his 
finger on the ground — " 

Louis: What did our Lord write? 

Grandma: The Gospel does not tell us, but as he 
read their evil hearts, it is supposed that Christ 
wrote, either sentences from the Scriptures condem- 
ning the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, or that he wrote 
in the sand the secret sins of these men. 



210 THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 

As the Pharisees continued to question our Lord. 
"he lifted himself up and said to them: He that is 
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at 
her. And again stooping down, he wrote on the 
ground. But they hearing this, went out one by 
one, beginning at the eldest." 

Little Louis: Why was that? Why did the 
eldest go out first ? 

Grandma: Because the eldest were probably the 
most sinful. 

And Jesus remained alone with this woman, who 
stood before him trembling. "Then Jesus, lifting 
himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that 
accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?" 

The woman replied humbly: "No man, Lord. 
And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, 
and now sin no more." 

And those who heard this judgment admired the 
charity and goodness of Jesus. 

Then Christ spoke to the people assembled in 
the temple. He told them he was the Messias, the 
Son of God, sent by his Father to save the world 
from sin. He showed them how blind of heart they 
were, who did not believe in his words, and who 
would not recognize in him the Messias. He recalled 
to their minds the good counsels he had given them, 
and which had stirred their hearts. He reminded 
them of the many miracles he had performed in 
their favor. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 211 

Alas, many of these Jews were so hard-hearted 
that, instead of being moved and touched by the 
words of Christ, they took up stones to stone him. 
"But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple," 
unharmed, for the time had not yet come when he 
would lay down his life for all men. 



212 THE CHILDRENS' UFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

CURB OF THE MAN BORN BUND. 

Grandma: "And passing by, Jesus saw a man, 
who was blind from his birth ; and his disciples asked 
him: Master, who hath sinned, this man or his 
parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus 
answered: Neither hath this man sinned, nor his 
parents; but that the works of God should be made 
manifest in him. I must work the works of him that 
sent me, whilst it is day; the night cometh, when no 
man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am 
the light of the world. 

"When he had said these things, he spat on the 
ground, and made clay of the spittle, and spread 
the clay upon the blind man's eyes, and said to 
to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe. . . He 
went and washed, and he came seeing." 

Then all the people of the neighborhood and all 
those who had seen him, formerly blind and asking 
alms said: "Is not this he that sat and begged? 
Some said: This is he. But others said: No, but 
he is like him. But he said: I am he. They said 
therefore to him: How were thy eyes opened? He 
answered : That man that is called Jesus made clay, 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 213 

and anointed my eyes, and said to me: Go to the 
pool of Siloe and wash. And I went, and I washed, 
and I see. And they said to him: Where is he? 
He saith: I know not." 

Hearing this miracle from the blind man they 
took him to the Pharisees that he himself might tell 
them of his cure. For it was on the Sabbath Day 
that Jesus had performed this miracle. 

The Pharisees questioned the man as to his cure 
and he said: "He put clay upon my eyes, and I 
washed, and I see. 

"Some therefore of the Pharisees said: This 
man is not of God, who keepeth not the Sabbath. 
But others said: How can a man that is a sinner 
do such miracles ?" 

And they disputed among themselves, and turning 
to the blind man asked him: "What sayest thou 
of him that hath opened thy eyes? And he said: 
He is a prophet." 

The Jews would not believe that this man had 
been born blind until they called his parents and 
questioned them. They asked the parents: "Is 
this your son who you say was born blind? How 
then doth he now see? His parents answered them 
and said: We know that this is our son, and that 
he was born blind; but how he now seeth, we know 
not ; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not ; ask 
him, he is of age let him speak for himself." 

This his parents said because they feared the Jews, 



214 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

for the Pharisees had agreed among themselves that 
any one who would acknowledge Jesus to be Christ, 
the Messias, would be driven out of the synagogue. 

Henry: What did it matter to be driven out of 
the synagogue? 

Grandma: It was a shame, a disgrace, a male- 
diction. The same as an excommunication would 
be to-day; a decision which would drive us out of 
the Church and would be a great disgrace to us. 

The Pharisees therefore called again this man born 
blind and said to him: "Give glory to God. We 
know that this man is a sinner." 

The blind man replied: "If he be a sinner, I 
know not ; one thing I know, that whereas I was blind 
now I see. They said then to him: What did he to 
thee? How did he open thy eyes? He answered 
them: I have told you already, and you have 
heard ; why would you hear it again ? Will you also 
become his disciples?" 

At this question they mocked him saying: "Be 
thou his disciple, but we are the disciples of Moses. 
We know that God spoke to Moses; but as to this 
man, we know not from whence he is." 

The blind man answered: "Why, herein is a 
wonderful thing, that you know not from whence he 
is, and he hath opened my eyes. Now we know 
that God doth not hear sinners; but if a man be a 
server of God, and doth his will, him he heareth. 
From the beginning of the world it hath not been 



THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 215 

heard that any man hath opened the eyes of one born 
blind. Unless this man were of God, he could not do 
anything. They answered, and said to him : Thou 
wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" 
And they drove him out of the synagogue. 

"Jesus heard that they had cast him out," and he 
went to seek him. "When he had found him he said 
to him: Dost thou believe in the Son of God? He 
answered, and said: Who is he, Lord, that I may 
believe in him ? And Jesus said to him : Thou hast 
seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And 
he said: I believe, Lord. And falling down, he 
adored him." 

Jack: That's good, I like that blind man. He is 
grateful and brave. 

Henry: And how bad and untruthful those 
Pharisees are. They pretend not to believe in the 
power of our Lord. 

Elizabeth: And this poor blind man, ignorant as 
he was, reasoned better than the wise Doctors of 
the Law. He hastened to recognize and adore our 
Lord. 

Grandma: And therefore Jesus said, addressing 
him especially: "For judgment I am come into 
this world; that they who see not, may see; and they 
who see, may become blind." 

Louis: What does that mean? 

Grandma: It means our Lord came to enlighten 
those who, from ignorance, did not see the truth. 



216 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And they who, through pride, thought themselves 
capable of seeing the truth, without God's help, 
would remain blind of heart. 

The Pharisees who were there and who heard these 
words, said mockingly: "Are we also blind? Jesus 
said to them: If you were blind, you should not 
have sin; but now you say: We see. Your sin 
remaineth." 

L ouis : What did our Lord mean ? 

Grandma: Our Lord meant that if the Pharisees 
had had more humility, they would have seen that 
they were blind and ignorant, and would, therefore, 
have asked for sight. But their pride prevented 
them from acknowledging their ignorance and asking 
for faith. For this reason Jesus Christ did not 
grant them sight, and they remained in sin, blind 
to the truth. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 217 



CHAPTER EXX. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

Grandma: And our Lord, still teaching the 
Pharisees and the multitude, said: "I am the good 
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for 
his sheep. But the hireling — " 

Paul: What is a hireling? 

Grandma: A hireling is one who is paid for his 
services. The shepherd boy is hired and paid to 
care for the sheep. 

Our Lord compared the shepherd, the owner and 
master of the flock, to the shepherd whom the 
master hired, and he said: "But the hireling, and 
he who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are 
not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and 
flieth; and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the 
sheep. And the hireling flieth, because he is a 
hireling, and he hath no care for the sheep. I am 
the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine 
know me. As the Father knoweth me, and I know 
the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. 

"And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; 
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, 
and there shall be one Fold and one Shepherd. 



218 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay 
down my life, that I may take it again. No man 
taketh it from me ; but I lay it down of myself, and 
I have power to lay it down; and I have power to 
take it up again." 

Henrietta: Why does our Lord say he has other 
sheep. Where are they? 

Grandma: The sheep to whom our Lord refers 
are the pagans. To these sheep Christ sent his 
Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests 
of the Church, to convert them to the true Faith. 
These then became Christians, and are therefore of 
the same fold as the people of Israel, who believe in 
Christ, and to whom our Lord was then speaking. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 219 



CHAPTER LXXI. 

THE TEN LEPERS. 

Grandma: Jesus on his way to Jerusalem passed 
through Samaria and Galilee. As he neared a 
small village, he was met by ten lepers. "They 
stood afar off and — " 

Jane: Why did they stand far from our Lord? 

Grandma: Because the lepers were forbidden 
to come into the villages and towns, or even draw 
near to those who passed by, for fear of giving them 
the leprosy, which is a very contagious malady, as 
I believe I have already told you. 

These lepers, having stopped at a distance from 
Christ, lifted up their voice, saying : ' 'Jesus, master, 
have mercy on us." 

When Jesus saw them, he said to them: "Go, 
show yourselves to the priests." 

And as they went on the way they were cured. 
One of them, when he saw he was made clean, went 
back, with a loud voice glorifying God. 

And he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, giving 
him thanks. And this leper was a Samaritan. 



220 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Then Jesus said: "Were not ten made clean? 
and where are the nine? There is no one found to 
return and give glory to God, but this stranger." 

And Christ said to the grateful leper: "Arise, go 
thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole." 



- V 




Christ Blessing the Little Children 



THE CHILDRENS' LIFE OF CHRIST 221 



CHAPTER LXXII. 

THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. 
CHRIST BLESSES LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Grandma: Our Lord gave the following parable 
to show that we must not have a good opinion of 
ourselves and despise others: "Two men went up 
into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee, the other 
a publican. The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus 
with himself: O God, I gave thee thanks that 
I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, 
adulterers, as also is this publican. I fast twice in 
a week; I give a tenth of all that I possess. And the 
publican, standing afar off, would not so much as 
lift up his eyes towards heaven ; but struck his 
breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner." 

And Christ added that the humble publican had 
returned to his house forgiven; but not so the 
Pharisee, who had made his prayer in such a proud 
spirit; for, said Christ: "Every one that exalteth 
himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth 
himself, shall be exalted." 

When he had finished speaking, they brought to 
him the little children, that he might bless them. 






222 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

His disciples rebuked those who brought these little 
ones to Jesus, and would have driven them away 
from our Lord. 

When Jesus saw this, he was much displeased; and 
he called the children to him and said: "Suffer the 
little children to come to me, and forbid them not; 
for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Amen, I say 
to you: whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of 
God as a little child, shall not enter into it." 

Jack: But, Grandma, you can't become a little 
child again; and so you will not be able to go to 
heaven, nor any grown person! 

Grandma: (laughing): Indeed, I hope to enter 
heaven some day, little one. Our Lord speaks of the 
innocence of children, not of their age. He wants 
us to be pure of all evil; innocent like little children, 
who never offend God. But when a child reaches the 
age of reason, which is supposed to be at seven years, 
he then knows right from wrong, and he may un- 
fortunately offend God. However, if he confesses 
his sins, and is forgiven through the absolution he 
receives from the priest, he is once more innocent 
and pure. 

When the children had been dismissed, the Jews 
questioned Christ, asking who he was. Christ 
answered clearly that he was the Son of God, sent 
by his father to save those who would believe in him 
and who would keep his commandments. He told 
them that he and his Father were One. But the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 223 

Jews, unwilling to believe that Jesus was Christ, the 
Son of God, at these words, took up stones to stone 
him, but he escaped from them unharmed. 



224 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 

CHRIST AND THE RICH YOUNG MAN. 

Grandma: One day, as our Lord set out on his 
daily journeying to preach God's kingdom, a rich 
young man ran up to him, "and kneeling before him, 
asked him: Good Master, what shall I do to 
possess everlasting life?" 

Jesus answered him: "If thou wilt enter into life, 
keep the commandments.' ' 

And the young man asked which he should keep. 
And Jesus answered by enumerating the command- 
ments : 

"Thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit 
adultery; thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear 
false witness; honor thy father and thy mother; 
and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The 
young man said to him* All these have I kept from 
my youth, what is yet wanting to me." 

Jesus looked at this young man, so eager to do 
better, and he loved him; and Jesus said to him: 
"If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and 
give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
heaven; and come follow me. And when the young 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 225 

man had heard this he went away sad, for he had 
great possessions." 

Henrietta: Why does our Lord want this young 
man to sell all his possessions ? It is not wrong 
to be rich. 

Grandma: Our Lord does not, in this instance, 
command; he only counsels, advises. This young 
man desired to reach perfection. From his youth 
he had kept the commandments, and yet he goes to 
Christ with eagerness, asking what he shall do for 
eternal life. For this reason Christ loved him, for in 
him he saw the pure heart longing to do even more 
than the law commanded. 

Therefore, our Lord counsels him to sacrifice the 
goods of this world and its pleasures, and to con- 
secrate himself to God, as we see religious and priests 
doing every day. They give up all the riches of 
this world, all its comforts, in order to follow Christ 
more perfectly. And when our Lord saw that, in 
spite of his desires, the young man had not the 
courage to part with his wealth, he looked around and 
said: "How hardly shall they who have riches 
enter into the kingdom of God." 

The disciples hearing this were greatly surprised. 
But Christ said a second time: "Children, how 
hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into 
the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to pass 
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to 
enter into the kingdom of God." 



226 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Henry: Why, Grandma, then the rich won't 
go to heaven ? 

Grandma: Our Lord only speaks of the rich who 
are selfish with their wealth, and who refuse to 
sacrifice their riches to God's will. For example, a 
good Christian would prefer to lose all his wealth, 
rather than keep it through some dishonest or unjust 
deed. On the other hand, the man who loves his 
riches more than the law of God, which leads to 
eternal life, would commit some selfish and unjust 
action to preserve his fortune. 

The disciples were surprised, and asked a question 
very like Henry's: "Who, then, can be saved?" 
For they thought to themselves, no doubt, every 
one, unless he be a beggar, has some fortune. And 
Jesus, looking at them, said : "With men it is impos- 
sible; but not with God, for all things are possible 
with God. Then Peter said: Behold, we have left 
all things and have followed thee. What, there- 
fore, shall we have? Jesus said to them: Amen, I 
say to you, that you, who have followed me, when 
the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you 
also shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel. And every one that hath left 
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father or mother, 
or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, 
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life 
everlasting. And many that are first, shall be last 
and the last shall be first." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 227 

Louis: How is that, Grandma? 

Grandma: That is to say that many who lead 
holy lives, and consequently seem destined to be first 
in the kingdom of heaven, if they do not persevere, 
may become wicked like Judas, who betrayed Christ. 

And others who are wicked may be converted and 
become great saints, like St. Paul, who began by 
persecuting the Christians, and who became one of 
the greatest of the Apostles. 






228 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXXIV. 

PARABLE OF THE WORKMEN IN THE VINEYARD. 

Grandma: To show the Jews how other nations 
of the earth, besides this chosen people, would 
receive the glad tidings of Christ's redemption, our 
Lord gave them the following parable: 

"The kingdom of heaven is like to a householder, 
who went out early in the morning to hire laborers 
into his vineyard. And having agreed with the 
laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his 
vineyard. 

"And going out about the third hour, he saw 
others standing in the market place idle. And he 
said to them: Go you also into my vineyard, and 
I will give you what shall be just. And they went 
their way. And again he went out about the sixth 
and the ninth hour and did in like nanner. 

"But about the eleventh hour, he went out and 
found others standing, and he saith to them: Why 
stand you here all the day idle? They say to him: 
Because no man hath hired us. He saith to them: 
Go you also into my vineyard. 

"And when evening was come, the lord of the 
vineyard saith to his steward: Call the laborers 



THE CHILDRENS' LIFE OF CHRIST 229 

and pay them their hire, beginning from the last 
even to the first. When therefore they were come, 
that came about the eleventh hour, they received 
every man a penny. But when the first also came, 
they thought that they should receive more; and 
they also received every man a penny. 

"And receiving it, they murmured against the 
master of the house, saying: These last have 
worked but one hour, and thou hast made them 
equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day 
and the heats. But he answering said to them: 
Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with 
me for a penny? Take what is thine and go thy 
way, I will also give to this last even as to thee. Or 
is it not lawful for me to do what I will ? Is thy eye 
evil because I am good? 

"So shall the last be first and the first last. For 
many are called, but few are chosen." 

Elizabeth: Grandma, it seems to me that these 
laborers who had worked all day had a right to 
complain. They had worked twelve hours and the 
others one hour, and yet they did not receive any 
more than the last comers. 

Grandma: Taken literally this parable seems 
strange at first sight; for those who had labored all 
day seem entitled to more pay than the last, who 
worked only a few hours. But it is not in this 
sense our Lord means this parable to be understood. 
He gives this parable to the Jews, to teach them that 



230 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

God does them no injustice in giving to other 
nations of the earth the happiness of knowing Jesus 
Christ, the Savior of the world. The penny given 
to all the laborers equally, to the last even as to the 
first, represents Jesus Christ, who gives himself 
with equal love to the Jews, to the pagans, and to all 
men of good will. This penny promised as reward 
by the Master, is our Lord promised to all men as 
their Savior, from the beginning of the world. 

Jack: And why don't the Master of the house 
drive away those who murmur and complain? 

Grandma: Because God is infinitely good, and 
forgives their discontent, and even explains to them 
the seeming injustice of which they complain ; for he 
says: "Is thy eye evil because I am good? 

Jane: What does that mean ? 

Grandma: Our Lord means that because I am 
good to these men and reward their good will, you 
must not be jealous and look upon this deed of mer- 
cy with an evil eye. After this parable Jesus pre- 
dicted to his Apostles that he was going to Jerusalem, 
where he would be delivered into the hands of the 
high priest and the scribes; and that he would be 
condemned to death, scourged, and crucified; but 
that on the third day he would rise again from the 
dead. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 231 



CHAPTER LXXV. 

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 

Grandma: There lived in the city of Bethany 
a good and wealthy man named Lazarus. He was 
the brother of Martha and of Mary. One day he 
fell ill. His sisters, who knew that Jesus loved him, 
sent messengers to say to our Lord: "He whom 
thou lovest is sick." Jesus said to those who 
brought the tidings of his friend's illness: "This 
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God; 
that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 

Though Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus, 
having heard of their anxiety, he remained two days 
longer in the city where he was at that time. "Then, 
after that, he said to his disciples: Let us go into 
Judea again. The disciples say to him: Rabbi, 
the Jews but now sought to stone thee; and goest 
thou thither again?" 

Then Jesus explained to them that the hour of his 
death, predicted by the prophets, had not yet come. 
He told them that nothing could prevent the 
approach of this hour; and nothing could hasten it; 
but he added: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but 
I go that I may awake him out of sleep. His 



232 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

disciples, therefore, said: Lord, if he sleep, he shall 
do well. But Jesus spoke of dis death; and they 
thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. There- 
fore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead. 
And I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there, 
that you may believe; but let us go to him." 

Jack: Why was our Lord glad he was not there? 
He could have cured him and prevented his dying. 

Grandma: Because our Lord knew he would 
raise him up from the dead; and he was glad that his 
disciples should witness such a miracle. 

"Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his 
fellow-disciples: Let us also go, that we may die 
with him." 

You see, the disciples thought our Lord was in 
great danger in going to Jerusalem. 

Jesus set out with his disciples; and soon reached 
Bethany, which is very near Jerusalem. When 
they arrived, they found that Lazarus had died, and 
had been in the grave four days. 

Many of the Jews had gathered round Martha and 
Mary, seeking to comfort these sisters in their great 
sorrow. 

While Martha and Mary sat with their friends and 
relatives, grieving over their loss, word was brought 
to Martha that Jesus was approaching. 

In all haste she went to meet him, and she said 
to him sadly: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my 
brother had not died. But now I know that what- 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 233 

soever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to thee. 
Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again. 
Martha saith to him : I know that he shall rise again, 
in the ressurection at the last day. Jesus said to her : 
I am the ressurection and the life ; he that Delieveth 
in me, although he be dead, shall live; and every one 
that believeth in me shall not die forever. Believeth 
thou this? She saith to him: Yea, Lord, I have 
believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living 
God, who art come into this world." 

And when she had spoken thus with our Lord, 
she went and called her sister, whispering to her: 
"The Master is come, and calleth for thee." 

Quickly Mary rose and hastened to Jesus, who had 
not yet entered the city, but was still on the outskirts 
of the town, where Martha had met him. 

The Jews seeing Mary leave the house in great 
haste, thought she had gone to her brother's grave 
to weep, and they followed her. 

When Mary met our Lord she fell at his feet; 
saying, as Martha had done: "Lord, if thou hadst 
been here, my brother had not died." 

No doubt the two sisters had said this of our Lord 
to one another many times over in the past few days 
of sadness. When Jesus saw how Mary wept and 
also the friends and relatives who were with her, 
"he groaned in spirit," and was deeply moved. And 
he asked: "Where have you laid him?" They 
replied: "Come and see." "And Jesus wept." 



234 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Jack: Why did our Lord weep? If he loved 
Lazarus so much, why did he not save him? Then 
the poor sisters and their friends would not have 
been so sad and in so much trouble. 

Grandma: Our Lord Jesus wept, for he was 
grieved at the grief of his friends. He shows us on 
this occasion that, far from blaming us, he sympa- 
thizes with the tears we shed at the loss of our 
parents and friends. Our Lord allowed Lazarus to 
die that he might perform the great miracle of 
raising him up from the dead, and thus prove his 
divine power to the Jews. 

When the Jews saw Jesus weeping they said: 
"Behold how he loved him! But some of them 
said : Could not he that opened the eyes of the man 
born blind, have caused that this man should not 
die?" 

Jesus reached the sepulchre where Lazarus was 
buried. It was a cave in front of which a large stone 
had been rolled. "Jesus saith: Take away the 
stone. Martha replied: Lord, by now he stinketh, 
for he is four days buried. Jesus saith to her : Did 
not I say to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see 
the glory of God? They took therefore the stone 
away. And Jesus, lifting up his eyes, said : Father, 
I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. And 
I knew that thou hearest me always; but because 
of the people who stand about have I said it, that 
they may believe that thou hast sent me." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 235 

When he had thus prayed to his Father, "he cried 
out with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth!" 
And immediately he that had been dead four days 
rose up alive out of the grave. His feet and hands 
and body were wrapped and bound in linen cloths, 
and his face was covered with a napkin. "Loose 
him," said our Lord, "and let him go." 

Valentine: Grandma why was Lazarus wrapt 
and bound in cloths? 

Grandma: It was the custom among the Jews to 
wrap the dead in linen bands and aromatic herbs. 
Over all these winding bands they folded a heavy 
winding sheet covering the dead from head to foot. 

The Jews who witnessed this wonderful miracle, 
knew that no man could live four days in a tomb thus 
wrapped and swathed, and they knew they were 
looking on a man who had been dead, and who was now 
alive and well. Therefore, many of the Jews having 
seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 

But several of these witnesses went to the Pharisees 
and told them what had happened. The Pharisees 
and High Priests assembled the Council to consult 
what they should do, saying: "What do we, for 
this man doth many miracles? If we let him alone 
all will believe in him; and the Romans will come, 
and take away our place and our nation." 

One of them named Caiphas, who was High 
Priest that year, said to them: "You know 
nothing. Neither do you consider that it is better 



236 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

that one man should die for the people, so that the 
whole nation perish not." 

Louis: He was a wicked man, for he knew that 
Jesus was good and innocent. 

Grandma: This he knew very well, and so did 
they all; but they feared that the Romans, hearing 
of the power of Christ and of his influence over the 
people, would grow jealous. And that they would 
send their soldiers to drive out the priests and the 
Pharisees, and all those whom they had appointed 
rulers over the Jewish people. 

From that day forth the Pharisees and Doctors 
of the Law sought to put Jesus to death. 

Jesus, knowing their intention, appeared no 
more among the Jews publicly; but he withdrew 
to a small town, near the desert, called Ephrem 
with his disciples. 

Elizabeth:- Grandma, as our Lord knew he was 
to die, why did he withdraw to Ephrem? 

Grandma: Because the hour of his death, pre- 
dicted by the Prophets, had not yet come. His work 
on this earth was not finished. In the retirement 
of Ephrem he taught his disciples many things con- 
cerning the redemption of the world. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 237 



CHAPTER LXXVI. 

JESUS FORETEU.S HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 

Grandma: As Jesus set out on the road leading 
to Jerusalem, his disciples, filled with dismay, followed 
him with great fear. 

Jane: Why were they surprised and why were 
they afraid? 

Grandma: They were amazed to see Jesus going 
so fearlessly to Jerusalem, where he had predicted 
that suffering and death awaited him. 

And yet they followed him, because they loved 
him, and were unwilling to leave him, but full of 
fear lest they also should be ill-treated and suffer 
death with him. 

But Jesus, reading their thoughts, took the twelve 
Apostles apart, and told them again that what the 
Prophets had foretold concerning him would be 
fulfilled in Jerusalem. That he would be delivered 
to the High Priest and to the Scribes, and that they 
would condemn him to death; that he would be 
mocked, spat upon, scourged, and finally put to 
death ; but that on the third day he would rise again 
from the dead. The disciples did not understand all 



238 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

that he told them, their minds were not yet open. 
Yet of all the prophecies foretelling the sufferings 
and death of Christ, this one is the clearest and the 
most exact. 

As they neared the city of Jericho, our Lord cured 
a man born blind, who sat by the wayside and cried 
out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 

Jesus restored his sight and the blind man, now 
seeing clearly, followed the Savior, in a loud voice 
giving glory and thanks to God. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 239 



CHAPTER LXXVII. 

ZACHEUS RECEIVES JESUS IN HIS HOUSE. 

Grandma: Jesus, entering Jericho, crossed the 
city. Here there dwelt a man named Zacheus, who 
earnestly desired to see and to know Jesus Christ. 
Zacheus was a rich man and head of the tax-collectors. 
Being very small and short, the crowd prevented him 
from seeing Jesus or drawing near to him. In his 
eagerness, running on ahead, he climbed into a 
sycamore tree, which grew on the roadside where 
Jesus was passing. As Christ reached the spot he 
raised his eyes and, calling Zacheus by name, he said : 
"Zacheus, make haste and come down; for to-day I 
must lodge in thy house." 

Zacheus hastened to obey, and conducted our 
Lord to his home and received him with much joy. 

The Jews seeing this, murmured among them- 
selves, saying: "He is going to lodge in the house of 
a sinner." 

But Zacheus, full of deep humility, standing 
respectfully before our Lord, said to him before all 
the people: "Lord, behold, now I give the half of 
my goods to the poor; and if I have wronged any 
man of anything, I restore it to him fourfold." 



240 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And Jesus answered; "This day is salvation come 
to this house, for the Son of Man is come to seek and 
to save that which was lost." 

Jane: I don't understand, Grandma, why does 
our Lord say he came "to seek what was lost?" 
And why does Zacheus wish to give up all he has and 
return more than he has taken ? 

Grandma: Our Lord here speaks of the soul 
which can easily be lost through sin and love of riches ; 
and these souls he came to save. Zacheus wished 
to give a portion of his wealth to make reparation for 
the deeds of injustice he had committed in com- 
pelling the payments of sums larger than were due. 
No doubt, you recall that the publicans collected 
the taxes due by the people to the State, and often 
they enforced payments that were unjust. 

To atone, to do penance, for this injustice, Zacheus 
promises to return four times as much as he has 
unjustly received. This good resolution, which 
proved his sincere repentance, deserved for Zacheus 
our Lord's blessed assurance that his visit had 
brought to this house salvation and peace. 

Jesus added the following parable before leaving 
the house of Zacheus. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 241 



CHAPTER LXXVIII. 

PARABLE OF THE TEN TALENTS. 

Grandma: "A certain nobleman went into a far 
country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to 
return. And calling his ten servants, he gave them 
ten pounds, and said to them: Trade till I come." 

Paul: That does not seem much money for a 
king to give. 

Grandma: In those days one pound, or talent, 
represented a large sum. Moreover, this king owed 
his servants nothing; he gave them this sum to test 
their faithfulness and ability to use it to the best 
advantage. 

"But his citizens hated him; and they sent an 
embassy after him saying: We will not have this 
man to reign over us. 

"And it came to pass that he returned, having 
received the kingdom; and he commanded his 
servants to be called, to whom he had given the 
money, that he might know how much every man 
had gained by trading. 

"And the first came, saying: Lord, thy pound 
hath gained ten pounds. 

"And he said to him: Well done, thou good and 



242 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful 
in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities. 

"And the second came, saying: Lord, thy pound 
gained five pounds. 

"And he said to him: Be thou also over five 
cities. 

"And another came, saying: Lord, behold here 
is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin ; 
for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man; 
thou takest up what thou didst not lay down, and 
thou reapest that which thou didst not sow. 

"He saith to him: Out of thy own mouth I 
judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest 
that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not 
down, and reaping that which I did not sow; and 
why, then, didst thou not give my money into the 
bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it 
with interest? And he said to them that stood by: 
Take the pound away from him and give it to him 
that hath ten pounds. And they said to him: 
Lord, he hath ten pounds. But I say to you, that 
to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall 
abound; and from him that hath not, even that 
which he hath, shall be taken from him. But as 
for those my enemies, who would not have me reign 
over them, bring them hither and kill them before 
me. 

Valentine: But what does this parable mean, 
Grandma? I can't imagine. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 243 

Grandma: The king here spoken of is the good 
God. The servants represent his creatures, mankind. 
The talents, or pounds, represent the various gifts 
which God distributed among men; such as, intelli- 
gence, cleverness, strength, courage, goodness, 
patience, kindliness, charity, and other qualities 
of mind and heart, of which there is an infinite 
variety. 

The enemies of the king, who did not wish him 
to reign over them, are the Jews, who refused to 
recognize our Lord as their king. 

The good servants, who turned to good account 
the money which their Master had confided to their 
care, are the wise and good, who earn for themselves 
great merit by the good use they make of the gifts 
of God. 

The cities, which the king gives to his good 
servants represent the rewards that God will bestow 
upon us according to the work we have done for 
him, or the good we have accomplished, and the 
virtues we have acquired. 

The wicked servant, who wraps his talent in a 
napkin, instead of striving to increase its value, 
represents those men who lose God's graces and his 
good gifts by allowing them to remain idle in their 
souls. 

The bad citizens, in open revolt against the king 
whom they will not have to rule over them, are the 
Jews and all bad Christians who deny God and will 



244 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

not repent and turn from evil to the good God. 
The graces and gifts which they would not profit by- 
are given to the faithful and wise servants, who have 
proved that they could appreciate and increase the 
treasures confided to their care by their master, 
the good Lord. 

Our Lord, having finished this parable, continued 
to journey towards Jerusalem and cured another 
poor blind man who followed him on the way. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 245 



CHAPTER LXXIX. 

MARY MAGDALENE ANOINTS THE FEET OF JESUS. 

Grandma: Six days before the feast of the 
Passover Jesus stopped in Bethany where he had 
raised Lazarus from the dead and where dwelt the 
sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Martha 
served the evening meal and Lazarus sat at table 
with Christ, together with other invited guests. 

Mary, full of reverence and love for the divine 
guest, took an alabaster vial of exquisite and 
precious perfume, and breaking the vase poured its 
contents over the feet of Christ. The house was filled 
with the fragrant odor of this ointment. 

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve Apostles, 
who sat at table, said: "Why was not this ointment 
sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" 

He said this, not because of charity for the poor, 
but because it was he who carried the purse, who had 
charge of the expenditures; and he used this money 
for his own purposes. 

Jesus answered: "Let her alone, why do you 
molest her? She hath wrought a good work upon 
me. For the poor you have always with you; and 



246 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

whensoever you will, you may do them good; but 
me you have not always. She is come beforehand 
to anoint my body for the burial. Amen I say to 
you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in 
the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall 
be told for a memory of her." 

The Jews having learnt of the presence of Jesus in 
Bethany, came in crowds to the house, not that they 
might see Jesus only, but Lazarus also, whom he had 
raised from the dead. 

And because of this miracle many Jews believed 
in Christ. Therefore the chief priests sought means 
to put Lazarus to death, fearing his influence over 
the people. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 247 



BOOK FIFTH 

Last Days in the Ministry of Jesus 
CHAPTER LXXX. 

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF JESUS INTO JERUSALEM. 

Grandma: The next day our Lord continued his 
journey to Jerusalem. As he neared the village 
of Bethphage, he called to him two of his disciples 
and said to them : ' 'Go into yonder village lying before 
us ; upon your entrance you shall find an ass tied, 
and a colt with her, on which no man has ever yet 
mounted. Loose them and bring them to me. 
And if any one say to you: What are you doing? 
say: The Lord has need of them, and straightway 
he will let them go." 

The disciples went before him to Bethphage and 
found the ass as Christ had told them, and when they 
untied her, those who stood by said: "What are 
you doing?" 

They replied as Jesus had bidden them, and were 
allowed to take the ass and the young colt ; and they 
led them to Jesus, who was waiting with the other 
disciples. 

They spread their garments upon the back of the 
ass that Jesus might mount, and some of the people 
threw their mantles on the ground to make a path 
for the ass which carried the Savior; others, standing 



248 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

by, cut branches from the trees and strewed the 
ground with these green boughs. 

And the disciples and the crowd who had gathered 
around shouted for joy, crying: "Hosanna, blessed 
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David. Hosanna in the highest. ' ' 
Then the Pharisees who stood by said to our Lord: 
"Silence thy disciples." But Jesus answered: "If 
these shall hold their peace, the stones shall cry out/ 

Little Louis: Grandma, how can stones cry out? 

Grandma: Our Lord meant that the joy and 
enthusiasm of the people was so great that it would 
be impossible to silence them, and that nothing 
could prevent their joyful song of "Hosanna;" 
which means, "Glory to God," Whom they were 
praising because of the coming of Christ. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 249 



CHAPTER LXXXI. 

JESUS WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 

Grandma: As our Lord drew near to Jerusalem 
from the heights of Mount Olivet, He looked upon 
the city spread out before Him and He wept, saying: 
"If thou hadst known, in this thy day, the things 
that are to thy peace ; but now they are hidden from 
thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee; and 
thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and 
compass thee, and straiten thee on every side, and 
beat thee flat to the ground, and the children who 
are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone 
upon a stone ; because thou hast not known the time 
of thy visitation. ' ' 

Elizabeth: Grandma, there are many things in 
these words of our Lord which I don't understand. 
Why does our Lord weep and grieve over the mis- 
fortunes of Jerusalem — when the Jews were so 
wicked towards Him? And who are these enemies 
of Jerusalem — and what means Jerusalem did not 
know "the time of her visitation ?' ' Who visited her ? 

Grandma: Our Lord is grieved at the thought 
of the sorrows which he foresees will come upon 






250 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Jerusalem, because, in spite of the wickedness of the 
Jewish people, He loved them as he loves all men, 
and, moreover, they were His chosen people and he 
longed that they should know the truth and merit 
eternal life. The enemies to which Christ refers are 
the Romans, a people who, forty years after the 
death of our Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, leaving not 
a stone upon a stone, as was predicted by our Lord. 

This was the punishment of the Jewish people for 
their wilful blindness. They had witnessed the 
miracles of Christ, and they should have understood 
that these miracles proved Him to be the Messias 
long expected by their nation. But the Jews feared 
that by the coming of Christ they might lose their 
power and might be compelled to obey instead of to 
command, that they would be condemned for their 
many faults; and, therefore, they made every effort 
to put to death the Messias, the Savior of the world. 

In this effort they succeeded and then they sought 
to conceal His resurrection, as you will see later on. 
But, in spite of them, the glorious resurrection of 
Christ was made known and proved Christ Jesus to 
be the Son of God. 

Therefore, does our Lord justly say that they 
refused to know the time of the visitation of their 
Redeemer, whose coming had long been looked for 
by the Jewish nation . 

Our Lord spoke at length to the people. He told 
them He would not ask His Father to deliver Him 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 251 

from the death which awaited Him, because for 
this purpose He had come into this world, and that 
by His death the devil would lose his power. 

And Jesus added: "If I be lifted up from the 
earth, I will draw all things to Myself." 

In these words He spoke of the cross to which He 
would be nailed, and which would be lifted up on 
Mount Calvary. He foretold that by His death 
many would be drawn to Him, and through Him they 
would be saved. 

And some in the crowd listening to Him asked: 
"Who is this?" 

And His friends answered with joy: "This is 
Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee." 

Little Louis: Was our Lord really a prophet? 

Grandma: Our Lord was more than a prophet. 
He was the Lord and King of Prophets. Jesus 
entered the Temple and cured the lame and the blind, 
who came to Him that they might be healed. And 
the children cried out Hosanna to the Son of David." 

Henrietta: What does Hosanna mean? 

Grandma: Hosanna means glory — "Glory to the 
Son of David," sang the little children, praising God. 
The Pharisees, hearing them, were indignant and 
said: "Hearest Thou what these say?" Jesus 
answered: "Yea, have ye never read: Out of the 
mouths of infants thou hast perfected praise?" 



252 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And Jesus, leaving the people, went out of the 
city with His twelve disciples to Bethany where he 
was always welcome. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 253 



CHAPTER LXXXII. 

JESUS CONDEMNS THE BARREN FIG TREE. — THE 
VENDERS DRIVEN FROM THE TEMPLE. 

Grandma: After resting with His friends in 
Bethany, our Lord set out early the next day with 
His disciples for Jerusalem. As He journeyed on 
the road, He grew hungry, for you know our Lord, 
being man as well as God, was subject to all the 
needs of human nature. 

It was not the season for figs, but seeing at a dis- 
tance a fig tree in full leaf, He drew near and, push- 
ing aside the leaves, He looked for the fruit, but in 
vain. He found only leaves; and addressing the 
fig tree He said: "May no fruit grow on thee any 
more forever." 

Jack: But, Grandma, it doesn't seem to me it 
was the fault of the tree, as it was not the season 
for figs. 

Grandma: The fig tree bears its leaves and its 
fruit at the same time. Therefore, as the tree was 
in full leaf, the passers by could expect to find fruit 
among the leaves. This tree presented, then, a 
false appearance and deceived the wayfarers. In 
condemning the fig tree, our Lord wished to give us, 
and those who heard Him, a lesson on the wickedness 



254 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

of hypocrisy, which leads men to appear better than 
they are ; to appear to possess virtues which in real- 
ity they have not. 

When He reached Jerusalem, our Lord entered 
the Temple. Here He found men selling sheep, 
lambs, and doves, and money changers changing 
silver and gold. 

Full of holy indignation at this profanation of 
God's Temple, Christ drove out the buyers and 
sellers and overturned the tables of the money 
changers, saying: "My house shall be called the 
house of prayer; but you have made it a den of 
thieves." Thus He taught respect for His Father's 
house. 

The sun having set, Jesus left the city. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 255 



CHAPTER LXXXIII. 

CHRIST ANSWERS THE PHARISEES. 

Grandma: The next day our Lord returned to 
Jerusalem. When again passing the fig tree, which 
He had condemned because it bore no fruit, the 
disciples saw that it was withered and dead. Our 
Lord again entered the Temple. The priests and 
Doctors of the Law drew near and said to Him: 
"Tell us by what authority Thou dost these things? 
and who hath given Thee this authority?" 

Jesus answering, said to them: "I also will ask 
you one word, which if you shall tell Me, I will also 
tell you by what authority I do these things. Was 
John the Baptist a prophet sent from God or not?" 

And they consulted among themselves what they 
should answer, and they argued: "If we say he was 
from heaven, He will say: Why, then, did you not 
believe him? If we say from men, the whole people 
will stone us; for they are persuaded John was a 
prophet." 

Therefore they answered Jesus : "We know not. ' ' 

And Jesus said to them: "Neither do I tell you 
by what authority I do these things." 

Louis: Why would not our Lord tell them? He 
had so well answered them before. 



256 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: Because our Lord knew that His 
reply would do no good. They did not question Him 
to know the truth, but in the hope that He would 
say something in which they could find some fault. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 257 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 

PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD AND THE HUSBANDMEN. 

Grandma: Our Lord spoke this parable to the 
people: "But what think you? A certain man 
had two sons ; and coming to the first, he said : Son, 
go work to-day in my vineyard. And he answering 
said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved 
with repentance, he went. And coming to the other, 
he said in like manner. And he answering said: 
I go, Sir; and he went not. Which of the two did 
the father's will? They say to Him: The first." 

And our Lord added that the sinners and the 
publicans, whom the Jews despised, would go into 
the kingdom of God before them; for these had be- 
lieved in John the Baptist and turned from sin, 
whereas the preaching of John had left the Jews 
unmoved. 

Jesus continued teaching in parables. "A certain 
man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husband- 
men; and he went abroad for a long time. And at 
the season, he sent a servant to the husbandmen that 
they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard. 
Who, beating him, sent him away empty. And again 



258 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

he sent another servant. But they beat him also 
and treating him reproachfully, sent him away 
empty. And again he sent a third; and they wounded 
him also, and cast him out. 

"And the Lord of the vineyard said: What shall 
I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be, when 
they see him, they will reverence him. \A nom 
when the husbandmen saw, they thought within 
themselves, saying: This is the heir, let us kill him, 
that the inheritance may be ours. 

"So casting him out of the vineyard, they killed 
him. What, therefore, will the lord of the vine- 
yard do to them ? 

"He will come, and he will destroy those husband- 
men and he will give the vineyard to others." 

Which the Jews hearing they said to our Lord: 
"God forbid!" 

Henry: Who are these husbandmen, Grandma; 
and why do the Jews say : "God forbid ? ' ' 

Grandma: The Master oj the Vineyard is the 
Good God. The Vineyard is the Church, which bears 
the fruits of faith, hope, and charity. The Hus- 
bandmen are the Jewish people, to whose care God 
had confided the truths of faith which they were to 
spread over the whole world. The Sercants sent 
to the husbandmen are the prophets, whom the Jews 
drove from their midst, persecuted, and finally 
killed. The Son of the King is, of course, our Lord 
whom the Jews likewise cast out of their synagogues 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 259 

and put to death. The husbandmen who received 
the vineyard which had been confided to such 
unworthy laborers are the Gentiles. 

Louis : Who are the Gentiles ? 

Grandma: The word Gentile means the people 
outside of the Jewish nation. The gift of faith was 
given to them. They know and love Christ our Lord, 
whom the Jews dispised. 

When our Lord had concluded this parable, the 
Jews cried out: "God forbid!" because they fully 
understood its meaning, and they feared the pun- 
ishment our Lord foretold would befall their nation^ 
if they presisted in rejecting the Messias who stood 
in their midst. 

The priests and princes understood that these 
words of our Lord were addressed to them as a 
warning, for they were the teachers of the people. 

Therefore, they sought to lay hold of Jesus, but 
they dared not, for fear of the people who honored 
Him. 



260 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXXXV. 

PARABLE OF THE WEDDING FEAST. 

Grandma: Our Lord spoke to them the following 
parable: "The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a 
king, who made a marriage for his son. And he 
sent his servants, to call them that were invited to 
the marriage; and they would not come. Again he 
sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were 
invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my 
beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; 
come ye to the marriage. 

"But they neglected, and went their ways, one 
to his farm, and another to his merchandise. And 
the rest laid hands on his servants and, having 
treated them contumeliously, put them to death. 

"But when the king had heard of it, he was angry, 
and, sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, 
and burnt their city. Then saith he to his servants ; 
The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were 
invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the 
highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the 
marriage. 

"And his servants, going forth into the ways, 
gathered together all that they found, both bad and 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 261 

good; and the marriage was filled with guests. And 
the king went in to see the guests ; and he saw there 
a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he 
saith to him: Friend, how earnest thou in hither 
not having on a wedding garment? But he was 
silent. Then the king said to the waiters. Bind 
his hands and his feet, and cast him into the exterior 
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." 

Louis: I don't understand this parable. What 
does this marriage feast mean? What king is it? 

Grandma: In the parables of our Lord, the 
king always represents God. The wedding of the 
king's son represents the union of the Son of God, 
Christ Jesus, with our human nature, which He 
wedded in becoming man. 

The first guests invited are the Jews, who were the 
first invited to the Feast of the Holy Eucharist. This 
great Feast of the Eucharist, in which our Lord 
Himself is our food, was instituted by Jesus at the 
last supper. The last supper of our Lord with His 
disciples was to take place in a few days, and I 
shall tell you shortly how, on this occasion, He 
showed His love for man. 

The servants sent by the king are the Apostles, 
the Disciples, the Priests, the. Missionaries, whom the 
world ill-treated and finally put to death. 

The armies represent wars, famines, plagues, 
which are sent by God to chastise those who repulse 



262 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

His servants and will not hear them. The man who 
is found at table without a wedding garment is the 
picture of those who dare to approach the table of 
Eucharist and receive Holy Communion without 
having purified their soul by true contrition and sin. 
cere confession. 

The command of the king, that the man without 
the wedding garment be bound hands and feet and 
cast into exterior darkness, is a sad but true repre- 
sentation of the judgement of God towards rebellious 
sinners who die with the stain of grievous sin upon 
their souls, and are therefore condemned to the 
pains of hell. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 263 



CHAPTER LXXXVI. 

THE TRIBUTE TO CAESAR. 

Grandma: The Pharisees withdrew to consult 
among themselves how they could best find some 
cause for taking our Lord prisoner. 

They planned to put to our Lord some question 
concerning the Roman laws, and they hoped that in 
His reply He would speak against their Emperor, 
Caesar ; and they would thus find a cause against Him. 
Therefore, they sent to Christ two spies to question 
Him concerning the tribute money which they paid 
to the Romans. 

As if they were earnestly seeking to know the 
truth, these men came to Jesus, saying: "Master, 
we know that Thou speakest and teachest rightly; 
and Thou dost not respect any person, but teachest 
the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give 
tribute to Caesar or not?" 

But Jesus, knowing their wicked cunning, an- 
swered: "Why do you tempt Me, ye hypocrites? 
Bring me a penny that I may see it. And they 
brought it to Him and Jesus saith to them : Whose 
image and inscription is this? The^ ~ay to him, 



264 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Caesar's. And Jesus answering, said to them: 
Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are 
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 

Elizabeth: How beautifully our Lord replies to 
these Jews who try to harm Him! 

Henry: They could not answer anything to that. 
They must have been angry at being caught them- 
selves. 

Grandma: The Gospel tells us that, having heard 
this reply of our Lord, they were amazed, and went 
away wondering at His wisdom. 

Henry : Were they converted ? 

Grandma: The Gospel does not say so. It is 
more probable that these men remained full of pride 
and envy, for it is impossible for men to repent when 
their hearts are full of hatred of their neighbor. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 265 



CHAPTER LXXXVII. 

THE LOVE OF GOD AND OF OUR NEIGHBOR. 

Grandma: The Pharisees were very angry when 
they learnt that Christ had silenced their messengers 
by His reply full of divine wisdom. 

And one of the Doctors of the Law, hoping to 
succeed in confusing our Lord, drew near and asked 
Him which was the greatest of all the commandments. 
And Jesus answered : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, 
and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and 
the first commandment. And the second is like 
to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 
There is no other commandment greater than these. 

Henry: But Grandma, there are ten command- 
ments, and our Lord says there are two ! 

Grandma : Yes, God gave to Moses ten Command- 
ments, which you have studied in your catechism. 
These two which Christ gives contain all the others : 
for He added: "On these two commandments 
dependeth the whole law." 

If you keep this first commandment, of loving 
God, you honor Him, you adore Him, you obey Him. 
And if you love your neighbor as yourself, as this 



266 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

second commandment teaches, you are naturally 
kind, patient, charitable, and generous towards 
others. This love of God and of our neighbor for 
His sake, will make us as perfect as we can be in 
this world. 

Camille: Grandma, how can we love everybody? 
How can I love those who hurt me as I love you? 
How can we love people who are cross and ill-tem- 
pered as we love those who are aimable and loving? 

Grandma: Dear child, the good God does not 
compel us to love every one with the same affection. 
To love all men means to feel kindly towards every- 
body, to bear ill-will to no one, to be kind and 
charitable to all, to make allowances for the faults 
of others, to bear with them and pray for them. 
This is the love we must bear towards all — this is 
the law of love which Christ taught us. 

Elizabeth: But, Grandma, if some one is unkind 
to me, and does me harm, I can't feel as kindly 
towards that person as if she were my friend. 

Grandma: This is precisely where our merit lies. 
Our Lord demands of us this effort, not always easy, 
I admit, but which will win for us a great reward. 

It is a pleasure to be kind to those we love and to 
those who love us; but to be kind towards our 
enemies, and to those who are cold and distant 
towards us, requires a great and generous effort. 
Our Lord asks this of all His followers, and He 
Himself gave us the example during all His life 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 267 

and especially in His sufferings and death, of which 
I shall presently tell you. 

The Scribe who had questioned Christ saw the 
truth and beauty of this reply, and he exclaimed: 
"Master, you have well said;" and he repeated 
thoughtfully the words of Jesus, and spoke so 
earnestly that our Lord said to him: "Thou art 
not far from the Kingdom of God." 

And no one dared question Christ further. As the 
Pharisees had gathered around our Lord, He turned 
and questioned them: "What think ye of Christ? 
Whose Son is He?" 

"David's," they replied. 

And our Lord asked: "How then doth David 
call Him Lord? If David called Him Lord, how is 
He his son?" 

None could reply to this, and from that day they 
dared not question Him. 

Louis : And we don 't understand either, Grandma. 

Grandma: However, it is very simple for all of 
you who know your catechism. Jesus Christ is the 
Lord of David, because He is true God, the Lord of 
all men. He is the son of David, because He is true 
man, and descended from David through His 
mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the mys- 
tery of the Incarnation, God made man, in which 
the Jews would not believe. 



268 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER LXXXVIIL 

THE WIDOW'S MITE. 

Grandma: One day our Lord was sitting on the 
porch of the Temple, near the money box, placed 
there to receive the offerings of the people as they 
came in and out of the Temple. 

As He watched the people giving their alms, a 
pooi widow drew near and dropped in the box two 
small pieces of money worth less than one cent. 
Turning to His disciples our Lord said: "In truth, 
this poor widow has given more than all the others. 
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she 
of her want cast in all she had, even her whole 
living." 

Elizabeth: It certainly must be comforting to 
the poor to know that they too can give alms, and 
that if they can give only a little, it will deserve our 
Lord's praise. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 269 



CHAPTER EXXXIX. 

JESUS PREDICTS THE RUIN OF JERUSALEM AND THE 
LAST DAY. 

Grandma: Our Eord predicted the ruin of 
Jerusalem and that there would not be a stone left 
upon a stone of this city which the Jews loved. He 
foretold the end of the world, and predicted that 
before the last day Christians would be persecuted, 
and war, famine, floods, and plagues would devastate 
the earth, and that all these would be signs of the 
coming of Christ to judge the world. He told them 
that on the last day the Son of God would appear 
in His majesty, and that the dead should rise again 
and stand before Him to be judged. The good 
would be separated from the wicked; the wicked to be 
eternally punished and the good eternally rewarded 
according to their deeds. 

Elizabeth: When will this be, Grandma? 

Grandma: Our Lord did not reveal when the 
end of the world would come. This, He told them, 
was God's secret, which even the angels in Heaven 
did not know, but He warns us, as He warned His 
disciples, "to watch and pray," that we may be 
ready at any time to appear before God, "for no 
one knoweth the day and the hour" that he will be 
called to appear before his Judge, 



270 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XC. 

PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS. 

Grandma: "The Kingdom of Heaven," said 
Jesus, "shall be like to ten virgins, who taking their 
lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the 
bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. 
But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did 
not take oil with them; but the wise took oil in their 
vessels with the lamps. And the bridegroom 
tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. 

"And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold 
the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. 
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their 
lamps. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us 
of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. The wise 
answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not 
enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that 
sell, and buy for yourselves. Now, whilst they 
went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that 
were ready went in with him to the marriage, and 
the door was shut. 

"But at last come also the other virgins, saying: 
Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answering said: 
Amen I say to you, I know you not. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 271 

" Watch ye therefore, because you know not the 
day nor the hour. " 

Henry: Grandma, will you please explain this 
parable ? I don 't understand it . 

Grandma: Most willingly. The ten virgins rep- 
resent Christians; the light of their lamps is the 
light of faith; the oil is the love of God and good 
deeds; the bridegroomis Christ Jesus. 

The virgins waited for the bridegroom, as all 
Christians await the last judgement ; the sleep of the 
virgins represents death, and their awakening, the 
final resurrection, when each one of us will find in our 
lamps the oil poured in during our lives ; that is, the 
good deeds done while on this earth. 

The foolish virgins, who went to buy oil when they 
heard the bridegroom was approaching, represent 
those who wait until the last hour of their lives to 
do good and turn from sin. They have not the time 
to repent, and when these foolish Christians reach 
the door of the heavenly kingdom, they are too late, 
the door is shut. They had not purified their souls 
by sincere repentance and made friends with God 
during life, and death found them unprepared for 
His coming. 

Therefore they are condemned and cannot enter 
the hall of feasting, which signifies Paradise. 

"And," continued our Lord, "when the Son of 
Man shall come in His majesty, and all His angels 
with Him, then shall He sit upon the seat of His 



272 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together 
before Him; and He shall separate them one from 
another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from 
the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right 
hand, but the goats on the left. 

"Then shall the King say to them that shall be 
on His right hand: Come, ye blessed of My Father, 
possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and 
you gave Me to eat ; I was thirsty, and you gave Me 
to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; 
naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited 
Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 

"Then shall the just answer Him, saying: Lord, 
when did we see Thee hungry, and fed thee ; thirsty, 
and gave Thee drink? And when did we see Thee 
a stranger, and took Thee in ? or naked, and covered 
Thee? Or when did we see Thee sick or in prison, 
and came to Thee ? 

"And the King answering shall say to them: 
Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it to one of 
these My least brethren, you did it to Me. 

"Then He shall say to them also that shall be on 
His left hand : Depart from Me, you cursed, into 
everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil 
and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me 
not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me not to 
drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me not in; 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 273 

naked, and you covered Me not; sick and in prison, 
and you did not visit Me. 

"Then they also shall answer Him, saying: Lord, 
when did we see Thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, 
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister 
to Thee? Then He shall answer them, saying: 
Amen, I say to you, as long as you did it not to one 
of these least, neither did you it to Me. And these 
shall go into everlasting punishment; but the just 
into life everlasting." 

Henry: But, Grandma, must we love the poor 
as we do God? 

Grandma: Our Lord teaches us that all men, poor 
and rich, good and bad, are our brothers, and that 
for love of Him who became man we must treat all 
men as our brethren and His brethren; otherwise 
we cannot hope to be happy with Him in heaven. 

When you read the lives of the saints you will see 
how they saw in the poor of this world our Lord 
Himself and how, for love of Him, they clothed 
them and fed them and ministered to their wants. 

Jesus spent these last days of His life teaching 
the people, who assembled in large numbers to hear 
Him; and at night He would withdraw outside the 
city to the Mount of Olives to pray. 



274 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XCI. 

JUDAS DETERMINES TO BETRAY CHRIST. 

Grandma: Jesus being alone with His disciples 
said to them: "You know that after two days the 
Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified." 

While our Lord was conversing thus with His 
disciples, the priests and scribes and ancients of the 
people had gathered together in the hall of Caiphas, 
the High Priest, and were consulting among them- 
selves how they might lay hold of Jesus and put Him 
to death. They decided that this must not be on the 
festival day, lest there should be a tumult among the 
people, for they knew many loved the Christ, who 
had gone among them doing good. 

While they were deliberating, "Satan entered 
into Judas," one of the twelve disciples. 

Jac k : How could Satan enter into Judas ? 

Grandma: Judas listened to the Evil One, who 
whispered that if he betrayed his Master he would 
be well paid by the enemies of Christ. This thought 
pleased Judas, who had grown to love riches, and he 
resolved to betray Jesus and sell Him to those who 
were seeking His death. From the moment Judas 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 275 

consented to this temptation he was in the power of 
the devil, who had entered into his heart. And he 
went immediately to the chief priests and princes 
and offered to deliver Jesus to them. 

They accepted eagerly, for they did not know 
where Christ spent the night, and they bargained 
with Judas and agreed to pay him thirty pieces of 
silver when he would have betrayed Christ Jesus 
into their hands. 

Jack: My, what a wicked man this Judas was! 
And he was one of the twelve Apostles; I wonder 
our Lord did not drive him away long ago ! 

Grandma: Our Lord came upon this earth to do 
the will of His Father and save men by his death. 
He left Judas free as to the use he would choose to 
make of the wonders of love and mercy which he 
witnessed in the Master's blessed company. Thus 
Christ obeyed the will of God Who leaves men their 
free will to turn from evil and do good in all the 
freedom of their own deliberate choice. Moreover, in 
all his dealings with Judas, His unworthy disciple, 
Christ gave us the most sublime example of perfect 
charity, patience, humility, and forgiveness of 
injuries, which virtues He had preached during His 
whole life. 

Like Judas, unfaithful Christians leave our Lord 
and betray Him. Nevertheless, God is patient and 
grants them long years of life, that they may repent. 



276 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

And like Judas they, too, are inexcusable if they 
are not moved to repentance and conversion from 
their sins. 



1^^ ' * MB H I 

HI - . \*np mi ... ■ ■ 


mzJW mam mi 


J~ is m 




"^W - ; ; ' 


^^m I 


^HB ^SHs&a 


■ w~ 




R : Hi 


aMBIBil 


I d^t II 


k iWMH 


IK' ■ * 


W&m mJSBKm nHH 


*'■ * !■ 


p 1 -\* 


1 1 


H 




J% ,fe(! 




^p^i 


w 


§r*M 


WmMm i -H 


% . Hi i 


p ,.> «H *H 




%JV^fl 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 277 



CHAPTER XCII. 

THE LAST SUPPER. 

Grandma : The Feast of the Passover was drawing 
near, and on the day of the azymes. 

Louis: What is the day of the azymes? 

Grandma: During the Feast of the Passover 
the Jews ate only unleavened bread, bread without 
yeast called azymes. Therefore, the first day of 
the feast, which lasted seven days, was called the 
day of the azymes. 

This day being at hand, Jesus said to Peter and 
to John: "Go, and prepare for us the pasch, that 
we may eat. But they said: Where wilt Thou that 
we go. But he said to them: Behold, as you go 
into the city, there shall meet you a man carrying 
a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where 
he entereth in. And you shall say to the good man 
of the house : The Master saith to thee, Where is the 
guest chamber, where I may eat the pasch with My 
disciples? And he will show you a large dining- 
room furnished ; and there prepare ye for us. " 

The disciples did as our Lord commanded, and 
found everything precisely as He had told them; 
and they prepared the pasch. 



278 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Mary Theresa: What was there to prepare? 

Grandma: Many things: First the lamb had 
to be killed and roasted. Then the unleavened 
bread and certain bitter herbs, which it was cus- 
tomary to eat with the lamb, had to be prepared. 
Then the table, spread with all that was needful for 
the paschal supper, as this repast was called. In the 
evening our Lord went up to Jerusalem. 

Valentine: Why do you say, Grandma, that Jesus 
"went up" to Jerusalem? 

Grandma: Because the city of Jerusalem was 
built on a height. After sunset our Lord sat down 
at table with His twelve disciples, and He said to 
them: "With desire I have desired to eat this 
pasch with you, before I suffer. For I say to you, 
from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in 
the Kingdom of God." 

Then, taking the cup of wine, He gave thanks to 
His Father and said to His disciples: "Take, and 
divide it among you; for I say to you, I will not 
drink of the fruit of the vine, till the Kingdom of 
God come." 

And while they were eating, our Lord spoke to 
them thus: "Amen I say to you, that one of you is 
about to betray Me." 

At these words the disciples were much grieved 
and each one asked : ' ' Lord, is it I ? " 

And our Lord answering said: "He that dippeth 
his hand with Me in the dish, he shall betray Me. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 279 

The Son of Man indeed goeth, as it is written of 
Him ; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man 
shall be betrayed ; it were better for him, if that man 
had not been born." 

And Judas, who was about to betray Him, asked 
in a low voice. "Is it I, Master?" And Jesus replied 
that it was indeed he who was to betray Him. 

Jack: But, Grandma, why did not the other 
disciples take hold of Judas and lock him up to 
prevent him from betraying their Lord? 

Grandma: In the first place, as our Lord and 
Judas spoke these few words in a low tone of voice, 
the other disciples probably did not hear. More- 
over, they did not know of what betrayal the Lord 
spoke. If they had understood that He spoke of 
His betrayal unto death, they would have found it 
impossible to believe that one of their number could 
be guilty of such a crime. 



280 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XCIII. 

CHRIST WASHES THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES. 

Grandma: Jesus knew that the hour had come 
when he should suffer and die for men; and longing 
to prove His boundless love for us, He instituted 
the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

L ouis : How did our Lord institute this Sacrament ? 

Grandma: By changing the bread and wine into 
His body and Blood, and giving it to his disciples 
to eat and drink, as your catechism teaches. And 
He gave to His disciples the power to do as He had 
done, and to continue this miracle, so that when He 
would have returned to His Father in Heaven, His 
disciples could unite themselves to Him in Holy 
Communion. 

This blessed privilege is ours also, when we receive 
the Blessed Sacrament, for Christ loves us as He did 
His beloved Apostles. Before instituting the Holy 
Eucharist, our Lord washed the feet of His disciples. 

Valentine: What! Our Lord washed the feet 
of His disciples — and why? 

Grandma: To give them a lesson in humility, 
and to teach us the purity necessary to receive 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 281 

worthily the Body and Blood of our Lord in Holy 
Communion. We attain this purity of soul by re- 
pentance and a sincere confession on our part. This, 
added to the absolution of the priest, forgives our 
sins and cleanses the soul from all stains which mar 
its purity. 

As I was about to tell you, before He instituted 
this great Sacrament our Lord rose from the table, 
took a basin which He filled with water, and having 
girded Himself with a towel, He washed the feet of 
His disciples and dried them with this cloth. 

When our Lord knelt before Peter to wash his 
feet, Peter cried out: "Lord, dost Thou wash my 
feet? Jesus answered: What I do thou knowest 
not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter 
saith to Him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. 
Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt 
have no part with Me. Then Peter saith to Him : 
Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my 
head. Jesus answered : He that is washed, needeth 
not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And 
ye are clean, but not all." 

Henrietta: Why does our Lord insist on washing 
Peter's feet when he doesn't wish it? 

Grandma: Because, as I told you, our Lord was 
giving His disciples a lesson in humility, which was 
to be a lesson to Peter as well as to the other dis- 
ciples. Moreover, our Lord here teaches that priests 
and bishops, and even the Holy Father, must humble 



282 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

themselves and confess their sins as do all the faith- 
ful, that they may be forgiven. 

Valentine: Why does our Lord say they are not 
all pure ? 

Grandma: Because Jesus knew that Judas, who 
was about to betray Him, was far from being clean 
of heart. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 283 



CHAPTER XCIV. 

THE INSTITUTION OF THE BLESSED EUCHARIST. 

Grandma: After the washing of the feet, Christ 
sat down at table with His disciples and said to 
them: "Know you what I have done to you? You 
call Me Master and Lord; and you say well, for so I 
am. If then I, being your Lord and Master, have 
washed your feet, you ought also to wash one an- 
other's feet. For I have given you an example, that 
as I have done to you, so do you also." 

The paschal lamb had been eaten, as ordained by 
the law, and the meal was drawing to a close; Jesus 
took the unleavened bread in His hands, blessed it, 
broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying: "Take 
ye and eat. This is My Body. And having taken 
the chalice, giving thanks, He gave it to them, 
saying. Drink ye all of this. This is My Blood of 
the New Testament, which shall be shed for many 
unto remission of sins. Do this for a commemoration 
of Me." 

Little Louis: Why does our Lord say: "This 
is My Body, this is My Blood," when He gave the 
Apostles only bread and wine? 



284 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: When Jesus pronounced these divine 
words: "This is My Body, this is My Blood," the 
bread and wine which He held in His hands were 
miraculously changed into His Body and Blood. 
This is called the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. 
It is a mystery of faith we cannot understand. There- 
fore, when Christ offered to His Apostles the un- 
leavened bread and the chalice, only the appearances 
of bread and wine remained, and He said truly: 
"Take and eat, this is My Body; drink ye, this is 
My Blood." 

In this great Sacrament our Lord proves His 
boundless love for us, by enabling us to unite our- 
selves to Him in Holy Communion whenever we 
will. For Jesus Christ gave to the Apostles and the 
priests, who are their successors, the power to con- 
tinue this wonderful miracle. 

Louis: Grandma, I have never received this 
Sacrament. 

Grandma: You are too young yet. Soon you 
will make your first Communion, and receive for 
the first time the Body and Blood of our Lord. Be- 
fore receiving this great favor, you must prepare 
with great care, learn your catechism, and try to 
understand how precious is this gift bestowed upon 
us by our Lord at the Last Supper. 

Again Jesus spoke of His betrayal which was now 
near at hand, saying: "Woe to that man by whom 
the Son of Man shall be betrayed." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 285 

And John, the beloved disciple, was leaning on 
the bosom of Jesus. 

Mary Theresa: How was he leaning on our Lord? 

Grandma: As I have already explained, the Jews 
sat at table, and John was seated next to our Lord. 

John, therefore, rested his head on the bosom 
of Jesus, and Peter made him a sign to ask the 
Master of whom He spoke: "Lord who is it?" 
whispered John. "He to whom I shall reach bread 
dipped." And, having moistened a piece of bread, 
He handed it to Judas Iscariot. As soon as Judas 
had eaten this piece of bread he rose from the table 
to carry out his purpose and betray the Master. 
"That which thou dost, do quickly," Jesus said to 
him. 

But none of the disciples understood these words 
of Christ. They thought that Judas, having in 
charge the expenditures had something to buy for 
the festival. 

When Judas had gone out, Jesus, together with His 
disciples, offered a prayer of thanksgiving. 

Jane: For what did they say a prayer of thanks- 
giving? 

Grandma: The disciples had just received their 
First Communion; and it was but just that they 
should return thanks to the good God for this favor 
granted to them, and to all men till the end of time, 
by the institution of the Holy Eucharist . 

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, wrote in his 



286 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Gospel a large portion of the beautiful words of our 
Lord on this occasion. I shall not repeat this dis- 
course at the Last Supper, which, when you are 
older, you may read in the Gospel of St. John. 

When Jesus had finished His discourse, and the 
hymn had been sung, He left the supper-room, 
followed by the eleven disciples, for the Mount of 
Olives, a hill outside of Jerusalem. Here was a 
garden known as Gethsemani where strangers coming 
to Jerusalem, rested before entering the city gates. 

Jesus often withdrew to this secluded spot to 
spend the night in prayer. Judas had frequently 
accompanied Him, and hither he now led the 
soldiers of Caiphas, knowing they would here find 
the Christ absorbed in prayer. 




Agony in the Garden 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 287 



BOOK SIXTH 

The Passion and The Resurrection of Jesus 

CHAPTER XCV. 

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 

Grandma: It was late in the evening when the) 
reached the Garden of Gethsemani and Jesus said to 
His disciples: "Sit you here, while I go yonder and 
pray." And he added: "Pray, lest ye enter into 
temptation." 

Louis: What temptation does our Lord mean? 

Grandma: The Passion of Christ was at hand. 
Our Lord knew this would be a trial to the Apostles, a 
temptation to their faith. 

They were to see their Master, Whose divine 
power they had witnessed, seized, bound, mocked, 
scourged, and finally crucified by His enemies. 
This was, without doubt, a great trial to their be- 
lief in the divinity of Christ. 

Jane: But Jesus had told them He was the Son 
of God. 

Henrietta: And they had seen Him raise the 
dead Lazarus to life. 

Elizabeth: And they had just been made strong 
by Holy Communion. 

Grandma: All this is true, and they should have 
remained firm in their faith who had been privileged 



288 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

to bear Him company for several years. But, re- 
member, they who had seen this same Christ, but a 
short while before, powerful over life and death, were 
about to see Him, who had proclaimed Himself 
the Son of God, apparently powerless before His 
enemies; yielding to suffering and dying as all men 
die. 

This was to be a severe test of their faith in His 
word, and against this temptation our Lord bid them 
pray. 

And taking with Him Peter and James and John, 
Jesus went further to a remote part of the garden, 
and His Passion began. 

L o uis : What means the Passion ? 

Grandma: By Passion is meant the terrible 
sufferings our Lord endured for us. Of His own free 
will, Christ yielded to suffering and to death, that 
He might atone to His Father for the sins of men. 

"My soul is sorrowful even unto death," He said 
to His disciples ; "stay you here, and watch with Me." 

And overcome with sadness, He went a little 
further from them to a corner of the Garden which 
is still pointed out. There He fell upon His face in 
great agony. All the sins of men, all the horror of 
evil filled his soul and overpowered Him. He who 
loved His Father from all eternity, saw that He was 
condemned to appear before Him bearing the sins 
of the whole world, that He might expiate for the 
wickedness and ingratitude of men. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 289 

Moreover, Christ saw in spirit how many of the 
human race would remain in their sins, in spite of the 
love He bore them, in spite even of the sufferings He 
bore for them. In agony of mind He cried out to His 
Father, if it were possible to let this suffering pass 
from Him. Nevertheless, He added: "Not My will 
but Thine be done." 

So great was the agony of our Savior that his body 
was bathed in a bloody sweat while he prayed for 
the salvation of men. 

Little Louis: How the Lord Jesus must have 
suffered, Grandma! 

Grandma: Yes; He suffered more than any other 
creature ever has or ever will suffer. By this agony, 
this bloody sweat, these tears and supplications, 
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ redeemed us, 
atoned for our sins. In other words, He, our Re- 
deemer, suffered the punishment due to the human 
race, that we might be free to enter the kingdom 
of Heaven. 

After this anguish of soul and body Jesus rose, 
unrefreshed and sad. Drawing near to His three 
disciples, He found them asleep, and very sadly He 
said to them: "What, could you not watch one 
hour with Me ? Watch ye and pray that ye enter not 
into temptation." 

Again He left them, and casting Himself on the 
ground, He repeated the same prayer: "O My 



290 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Father, if this chalice cannot pass except I drink it, 
Thy will de done. ' ' 

This prayer, which should be our model in all our 
sufferings, our Savior repeated again and again in 
the agony in the Garden. 

A second time He returned to His disciples, to 
find them again overcome with sleep, and, full of 
sadness that His disciples, even the beloved John, 
should thus leave Him alone in His agony, He 
resumed His prayer of submission and of supplication. 

An Angel was sent from Heaven to comfort Him 
in His agony, and give Him strength to bear yet 
greater suffering. Our Savior here gives us a lesson 
on the necessity of prayer. The disciples, who 
neglected His warning and slept when they should 
have prayed for strength, failed when temptation 
came, and fled from danger, leaving their Master 
to suffer alone, as you will shortly see. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 291 



CHAPTER XCVI. 

JUDAS BETRAYS CHRIST 

Grandma: It was midnight, the traitor, Judas, 
was drawing near. Calm and serene, Jesus rose from 
prayer and approaching His disciples woke them, 
saying: ''Rise; behold, he that will betray Me is 
at hand." 

The disciples rose, frightened, for at that moment 
they heard the advancing tread of soldiers, accom- 
panied by a large crowd carrying swords and staves. 

Judas had given them a sign by which they should 
recognize Jesus: "Whomsoever I shall kiss that is 
He; hold Him fast." 

Jack: How wicked Judas was. He deserved to 
be severely punished. 

Grandma: He was terribly punished, as you will 
hear later. 

And now, going up to Jesus, he said: "Hail, 
Master: and he kissed Him. Jesus said to him: 
Friend, whereto art thou come? Judas, dost thou 
betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" 

Then Jesus stepped forward, toward the soldiers 
who had come to take Him prisoner, saying : ' ' Whom 
seek ye?" 



292 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

"Jesus of Nazareth," they cried out. 

"I am He," answered the Savior. Hearing these 
words, the soldiers fell backwards on the ground 
overcome with terror. 

Paul: I am glad of that. I hope they were 
killed! 

Grandma: No; our Savior permitted them to 
rise unhurt. He was merciful and kind to the end. 
He gave these unfortunate creatures, for whom He 
was about to suffer and to die, the time to repent of 
their sins. Christ could have had legions of angels 
at His command, but here, for the last time, He 
showed His executioners that He had given Himself 
into their hands of His own free will. 

Once more He told them He was Jesus of Nazareth, 
whom they sought, and they rose and bound Him 
roughly and led Him out of the Garden to the court 
of the High Priest, Annas. 

The Apostles, who had failed to pray for strength, 
fled like cowards. Peter for a moment defended His 
Master, and drawing his sword, cut off the ear of 
one of the soldiers called Malchus. 

Christ touched the wound and healed him, and 
He said to Peter: "Put up thy sword into its place. 
The chalice which my Father hath given Me, shall 
I not drink it?" 

Jane: Of what chalice does our Lord speak? 

Grandma: Our Lord spoke of the chalice of His 
Passion and Death. When we speak of drinking 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 293 

the chalice, we mean we accept with patience and 
resignation the sufferings and humiliations which 
are sent to us by the good God. 

St. Peter fled with the other disciples, but from 
afar he and St. John followed the Master to the 
vestibule of the palace of Caiphas, where dwelt 
Annas, the High Priest. Unnoticed, they mingled 
in the crowd of Roman soldiers who were warming 
themselves at the fire built in the open court. 



294 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XCVTI. 

JESUS BEFORE ANNAS. 

Grandma: Jesus was led before the High Priest 
Annas, who questioned Him on His doctrine and on 
His disciples. 

Little L ouis : What is doctrine ? 

Grandma: Doctrine is the teaching of our Lord 
and His Church on matters of faith. Jesus answered 
with gentle dignity: "I have spoken openly to the 
world; I have always taught in the synagogue and 
in the temple; why askest thou Me? Ask them who 
have heard what I have spoken; behold, they know 
what things I have said." 

A rough soldier, deeming this dignified reply 
insulting to Annas, gave Jesus a blow in the face, 
saying: "Answerest Thou the High Priest so?" 

Jesus replied: "If I have spoken ill give testi- 
mony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me?" 

Camille: How patient our Lord was! 

Grandma: Yes; throughout His whole Passion 
our Savior gives us a wonderful lesson in humility, 
charity, and patience. And if soldiers are allowed 
to buffet Him, insult Him, and strike Him — it is 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 295 

only that we may learn to be strong against humilia- 
tion and injustice. 

When our Lord and Savior suffered blows, insults, 
weariness, hunger, and thirst for love of us, how shall 
we dare complain of being severely or unjustly 
treated? 

What He, the innocent Jesus, did for love of you, 
dear children, do you for love of Him. If a friend 
is false to you, think of Judas; if one strikes you, 
think of the blows Jesus received from these rough 
soldiers; and, in imitation of our Savior, keep your 
peace of soul and that deep humility full of gentleness 
which forgives all injuries. 



296 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XCVIII. 

JESUS BEFORE CAIPHAS. 

Grandma: Our Savior remained only a short 
while before the judgment seat of Annas. Caiphas 
had assembled the council of priests and princes, and 
they notified Annas to send them the prisoner. 
Jesus was, therefore, led before this council to be 
judged. These men were not seeking the truth, but 
an excuse to condemn the Christ, and therefore they 
bribed false witnesses to appear before this assembly 
and testify against Him. 

These witnesses contradicted one another in their 
false testimony, and the high priest, angered at the 
silence of our Savior, asked Him sharply: "What, 
answerest Thou nothing to the things that these 
witness against Thee?" 

But our Lord was silent. "And the high priest 
said to Him: I adjure Thee by the living God, that 
Thou tell us if Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." 

Christ had not yet spoken before this gathering, 
but when Caiphas questioned Him in the name of 
God, He answered: "Thou hast said it. Never- 
theless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 297 

of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, 
and coming in the clouds of heaven." 

Then the high priest rent his garments saying: 
"He hath blasphemed." 

Louis : Why did Caiphas tear his garments ? 

Grandma: This was to the Jews a sign of great 
indignation, which the high priest thus hypocritically 
expressed. 

"He is guilty of death," they all cried out at once. 
And, throwing themselves on Jesus, they spat on 
Him and struck Him in the face. The divine face 
of Christ was bruised and disfigured, and at every 
blow they mockingly asked: "Christ, prophesy 
who struck Thee. ' ' 

Thus for several hours they made sport of Jesus 
and insulted Him. Then, still ill-treating Him, they 
dragged Him to one of the prisons of the palace. 



298 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER XCIX. 

PETER DENIES CHRIST. 

Grandma: While the trial was going on before 
Caiphas, Peter had remained in the courtyard with 
the crowd. A few hours before he had assured our 
Lord of his devotion to Him and to His cause. 

He had protested his love to Christ in all sincerity, 
though with some presumption in his own strength: 
"Though all men shall be scandalized in Thee, I will 
never be scandalized." To which our Lord had 
answered sadly: "Amen I say to thee to-day, even 
in this night, before the cock crow, thou wilt deny 
Me thrice." 

In spite of his Master's warning, Peter had slept 
when he should have prayed for strength, and, 
therefore, when temptation came he denied Christ 
the Son of God. 

A servant had noticed him as he entered the 
courtyard and she asked him if he were not one of the 
disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter replied that 
he knew Him not. 

But troubled at the question and his untruthful 
answer, he advanced to the group of soldiers to 
warm himself by the open fire. A few moments 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 299 

after another woman looked at him and pointed him 
out to those who stood near. Questioned a second 
time Peter again, and this time with an oath, denied 
that he knew the Christ. 

An hour later one of the servants of Caiphas who 
had accompanied Judas to the Garden, entered the 
courtyard, recognized Peter, and said to him: "Did 
I not see thee in the garden with Him?" And Peter 
said: "Man, I know not what thou sayest. ,, 

"And immediately, while he was yet speaking, 
the cock crew." 

At that moment Jesus passed by on His way to the 
prison of the Temple. Passing near Peter, He gave 
him a look full of reproach and compassion. Peter, 
overcome with sadness and sorrow at this glance 
from his Master, left the courtyard, and going out 
wept bitterly in repentance of his sin and of his un- 
faithfulness to the Master whom he loved. 



300 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER C. 

DESPAIR AND DEATH OF JUDAS. 

Grandma: Peter wept in repentance of his sin. 
Though it was great, he did not despair of God's 
mercy. Judas also repented, as the Gospel tells us, 
but his sorrow was not a good repentance. 

Elizabeth: How can that be, Grandma? It 
seems to me all repentance must be good. 

Grandma: Repentance is good, and obtains 
God's forgiveness, when it comes from sorrow for 
having done evil and having offended the good God 
whom we love. The repentance of Judas sprang 
from sorrow for his great sin in betraying the Son 
of God, but, instead of praying God's forgiveness 
and weeping for his sins, as St. Peter had done, he 
despaired of God's mercy to forgive so great a crime. 
Judas foresaw a life of shame and dishonor in the 
eyes of all men as a traitor and an accomplice in the 
death of his Master, and this sense of shame over- 
powered all else, and led him to despair. 

When he heard the condemnation of Jesus, he 
went to the princes and ancients of the people, to 
whom he had sold the Christ, and throwing down 
before them the thirty pieces of silver, he cried out : 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 301 

"I have sinned in betraying innocent blood." The 
priests and princes only mocked him, and rushing 
out of the city, his heart full of rage and despair 
at the thought of his crime, "he hanged himself with 
a halter." 

Our Lord had said: "Woe to that man by whom 
the Son of Man shall be betrayed. It were better 
for him, if that man had not been born." 

Judas, by his despair, forfeited the grace of 
repentance. He should have called to mind the 
many instances he had witnessed of the mercy and 
goodness of the Savior for all sinners. He should 
have bewailed his crime and implored forgiveness, 
knowing that Christ would forgive his sin, however 
great. 

Whatever sins we may commit, how great soever 
be our guilt, we must never despair of the mercy 
of God, which is as great as His love. 



302 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CI. 

CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 

Grandma: At dawn of day Caiphas again assem- 
bled the Council and the Scribes and Pharisees. 
Jesus was brought before them a second time and 
questioned as on the day before. He testified again 
that He was Christ, the Son of God, made Man. 
He was condemned to die, but, as the Roman Gov- 
ernor alone could order the execution of a prisoner, 
Jesus was led to the palace of Pontius Pilate, who 
governed Jerusalem in the name of the Emperor of 
Rome. 

Pilate was a weak and selfish character. He tried 
to please everybody, without regard to the justice 
of his judgments. 

It was about six o'clock in the morning when Jesus 
was led before this tribunal. The Jews accused Him 
of many crimes and they testified that He had said 
He was the King of the Jews. 

Pilate questioned Jesus, and was struck with His 
dignity and gentleness. 

"Art Thou the King of the Jews?" he asked. 
And Jesus answered: "Thou hast said it. My 



THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 303 

kingdom is not of this world. If My kindgom were 
of this world, My servants would strive that I should 
not be delivered to the Jews. I came into the 
world that I should give testimony to the truth." 

"And what is truth?" asked Pilate; but he did 
not wait for the reply of our Lord, for he did not care 
to know the truth. Turning to the Jews, he told 
them that he could find no fault to condemn in this 
Man, but that he would send Him to Herod, the 
Tetrarch of Galilee. 

Paul : What is a Tetrarch ? 

Grandma: A Tetrarch is a king over a small 
province. Herod ruled over the province of Galilee. 
And Pilate, having learnt that Jesus was a Galilean, 
and desiring to make friends with Herod, sent him 
this prisoner from his own province. 



304 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CII. 

CHRIST BEFORE HEROD. 

Grandma: Herod, ruler of Galilee, was a cruel 
and arrogant prince. He had heard of Christ and 
of His miracles, and he hoped to see a display of 
His wonderful power. But the Son of God was 
silent in the presence of Herod. Angry and dis- 
appointed, Herod mocked Him, and, in derision, 
had Him clothed in a white garment, which in 
Galilee was the attire used to designate fools. Still 
mocking Jesus, he placed in His hand a reed as a 
mock scepter of royalty, and sent Him back to 
Pilate, accompanied by a derisive crowd, which, on 
His sorrowful way, struck and insulted the Divine 
Prisoner. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 305 



CHAPTER CHI. 

CHRIST SENT BACK TO PILATE. 

Grandma: Amid the cries of the populace, 
excited by the Pharisees, Christ appeared before 
Pilate's tribunal. Again he questioned Jesus, who 
remained silent, answering not a word to His 
accusers. 

Jack: Why did He not answer? It seems to me 
He might have shown Pilate that He was innocent. 

Grandma: Our Lord read the hearts of men, and 
He knew well that fear of the Emperor and of the 
Jewish people would prevent Pilate, who was weak, 
from being just. Moreover, when Pilate had asked 
Christ, "What is truth?" he had not waited for the 
Savior's answer. Now, Pilate was greatly perplexed 
at our Lord's silence. He did not wish to condemn 
Christ, whom he believed to be innocent, yet he 
wished to please this Jewish mob, for he feared to 
make enemies and thereby lose his position as 
Governor of Judea. 

Too weak and cowardly to release the innocent 
prisoner who stood before him, Pilate thought of a 
plan whereby he might save Jesus from death, and 
yet not lose the favor of the people. 



306 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

On the Feast of the Passover it was customary for 
the Emperor to forgive one prisoner sentenced to 
death. Barabbas, a robber, condemned to die, was 
waiting execution in the prisons of Jerusalem. 
Pilate had determined to release this man. However, 
knowing Barabbas was greatly feared for his many 
crimes, Pilate decided to offer to the crowd the 
release of the innocent Jesus in place of that of the 
wicked Barabbas. 

But the crowd, whom the Pharisees had stirred 
into hatred of Jesus, called loudly to Pilate to for- 
give Barabbas, but not the Christ. 

And Pilate asked: ''What shall I do, then, with 
Jesus that is called Christ?" 

"Crucify Him," answered this ungrateful people. 

Thus Jesus saved Barabbas who deserved to die, 
as by His death on the cross He saved all the children 
of Adam from eternal death. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 307 



CHAPTER CIV. 

CHRIST IS SCOURGED. 

Grandma: Pilate still hesitated to give sentence 
of death: "I find no cause of death in Him," he 
repeated again to this angry crowd; but they only 
replied the louder: "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" 

Thinking to satisfy their rage, and save Jesus 
from death, he ordered Him to be scourged: I will 
chastise Him, therefore, and let Him go," he said, 
frightened at the clamor of the people. 

Our Lord was given up to the executioners, who 
dragged Him to the courtyard of the palace. There 
the Roman soldiers stripped Him of the white robe 
in which Herod had clothed Him and, binding Him 
to a pillar, scourged Him with untold cruelty. His 
sacred flesh was torn by the heavy leather thongs 
used by the Romans in execution of this sentence 
of punishment. 

Finally, wearied of striking, they unbound Jesus 
and, throwng over Him a scarlet cloak, they crowned 
Him with a crown of thorns whose sharp points 
pierced His brow; in His hands they placed the reed 
sceptre which Herod had forced on Him. "Hail, 
King of the Jews!" they mockingly said as they bent 



308 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

their knees before Him in mock adoration, and spat 
upon Him, struck Him, and reviled Him. ■ 

All this, my children, our Savior suffered for our 
sins, that he might redeem us and save us from the 
power of the evil one. 

How ungrateful we are to forget the Passion of 
Christ and continue to offend Him, preferring our 
pleasure to the love He offers us. Man's ingratitude 
was one of our Lord's keenest sufferings, for He loves 
us and longs to save us ; but against our own will He 
cannot do so. 

All these cruel sufferings of Christ we make useless 
for us when we sin. Let us pray for one another, my 
children, that our hearts may overflow with love 
and gratitude towards this bountiful Savior, that 
we may profit by His sufferings and death, which 
purchased for us eternal life. 



j— 

! 







Pilate Condemns Christ to Death 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 309 



CHAPTER CV. 

PILATE CONDEMNS CHRIST TO DEATH. 

Grandma: Broken with suffering, crowned with 
thorns, the red robe hanging on His blood-covered 
shoulders, Christ was dragged before the judgment 
seat. Moved with pity at this spectacle, Pilate led 
Jesus out of the Hall of the Pretorium, in sight of all 
the people. He hoped the sight of their victim, 
disfigured and covered with blood, would inspire 
in their hearts some compassion. 

"Behold the Man!" said Pilate. Yes, behold the 
Man whom they had tortured, treated with ignominy 
and despised. 

"Behold the Man!" God Himself made man, 
suffering for those who will not recognize His 
Divinity. Behold the God-Man, whose life we have 
followed from Bethlehem to this day, who now 
of His own free will suffers and is about to die for all 
men whom He calls His brothers. 

But the Jews showed no pity, their hearts were 
shut even at sight of so much agony. They wanted 
the ignominious death of the cross for this innocent 
victim. "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" they cried, 
their voices growing louder and louder. 



310 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Pilate, stirred by so much ingratitude, spoke again : 

"Why what evil hath this man done? I find no 
cause in Him. Shall I crucify your King?" 

"We have no king but Caesar," cried the mob. 
"We have a law, and according to that law He 
ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of 
God; and if thou release this man thou art not 
Caesar's friend." 

Hearing these words Pilate was filled with fear, 
and strove to smother the voice of his conscience. 
Ascending the steps of the tribunal which, accord- 
ing to the custom of ancient times, was in the open 
air, he called for a basin of water, and washing his 
hands in presence of the crowd, he said: "I am in- 
nocent of the blood of this just man; look you to it !" 

"His blood be upon us and upon our children," 
answered the people. This people, until now the 
chosen people of God, blessed from the beginning 
with His special protection, now became accursed and, 
like Cain, wanderers on the surface of the earth; 
hated and despised by all men, as the executioners 
of Christ. 

Having purified his hands, by which means he 
sought in vain to purify his soul, Pilate condemned 
Jesus to the most cruel and ignominious death, the 
death of the cross. 

He ordered that the inscription which it was the 
custom to place on the cross over the head of the 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 311 

condemned man should be written in the three 
languages known as the sacred languages — Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew: "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the 
Jews." 

Louis: Why do you call them sacred languages, 
Grandma? 

Grandma: Because the Psalms, the Old Tes- 
tament, and the Gospels, and all those writings we 
call the Sacred Scriptures, are written in these lan- 
guages. 

This inscription did not please the Pharisees. 
They wanted it to read that Jesus had called Himself 
King of the Jews, not that He was their King. 

Pilate despised the Jews and answered angrily: 
"What is written is written." He realized they had 
led him to commit a contemptible and cowardly 
deed, for which his conscience reproached him 
keenly. 

It was about eight in the morning when Pilate 
pronounced the sentence condemning our Lord to 
the death of the cross. 

To render the crucifixion more ignominious and 
more striking, two thieves who lay waiting execution 
in one of the prisons of the city were condemned to be 
crucified with Christ. 

While all these preparations were taking place, the 
soldiers of Pilate continued to ill-treat the Savior as 
they had done before his condemnation. 



312 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

When all was in readiness, Christ left the Pre- 
torium for Golgotha, or Mount Calvary, carrying His 
own cross. 



~, 







ulI 



Christ Carries His Cross 



THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 313 



CHAPTER CVI. 

CHRIST CARRIES HIS CROSS. 

Grandma: The road which our Savior walked, 
between Pilate's palace and Mount Calvary, is still 
pointed out in Jerusalem and trod by many pil- 
grims, who thus really follow the foot-steps of Christ 
on His sorrowful journey. This we do also in spirit 
when we make the ' ' Way of the Cross, or the Stations. ' ' 

In spite of His great weakness Jesus was forced 
to carry His cross to Calvary, the place of His 
execution. Several times He fell beneath its heavy 
weight, which, none the less, was to Him a dear 
burden, since through its means He was to save the 
world. 

If you go to Jerusalem you will see the spot where 
Jesus met His beloved mother accompanied by 
St. John, Mary Magdalene, and the other holy 
women. Here His mother waited to join Him in 
His sorrowful journey and be with Him to the end. 

Tradition tells us that one of these holy women, 
filled with pity and compassion at sight of Jesus 
covered with sweat and blood, wiped His face with a 
napkin. Our Savior rewarded this act of courage 



314 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

and of love by leaving on this napkin the imprint of 
His divine face. 

Jesus, and the thieves who were to be crucified 
with Him, finally reached Golgotha, the height of 
Mount Calvary, at about nine in the morning, or, as 
the Jews express it, at the third hour. 

Elizabeth: Why do they call it the third hour ? 

Grandma: The Jews did not count the hours as 
we do. They counted from the rising of the sun to 
its setting. As all this happened in April when the 
sun rises at six o'clock, the third hour from its rising 
would be about nine o'clock. In like manner, the 
Gospel says Jesus died at the ninth hour, or three 
o'clock according to our manner of expressing it. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 315 



CHAPTER CVII. 

CHRIST IS CRUCIFIED. 

Grandma: Having reached the summit of Mount 
Calvary the executioners stripped our Lord of His 
robe and the mantle which covered His blood- 
stained shoulders. They laid the cross on the ground 
and upon it they stretched our Savior, nailing His 
feet and His outstretched hands to the wood of the 
cross. Above His thorn-crowned head they placed 
Pilate's inscription: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the 
Jews!" 

Then, lifting the cross, they stood it in the ground, 
in a hole dug for the purpose, and the Savior of the 
world was raised up, His arms outstretched, as if 
to embrace all men whom He had come to save. 

On either side of our Savior they crucified the two 
thieves. The soldiers divided His garments among 
them; but as His robe was without seams and they 
would not cut it in two, they cast lots to determine 
who should have it. 

All these details of the Passion of Christ had been 
predicted by the Prophets many centuries before 
the coming of the Messias. 



316 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Mount Calvary was crowded with people and the 
Pharisees were rejoicing over their triumph. 

Sneeringly they spoke to Christ : "If Thou be the 
Son of God, come down from the Cross!" And 
others mockingly said: "He saved others, Himself 
He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel let 
Him come down from the cross and we will believe 
in Him." 

Elizabeth: Why did not our Lord perform this 
miracle, and come down from the cross? They 
would have all been converted. 

Grandma : This miracle would not have converted 
them any more than the raising of Lazarus, or the 
curing of the man born blind. 

Remember the Pharisees were not ignorant, but 
their hearts were blinded by pride and hatred. 
Moreover, remember that at the very beginning of 
His Passion, our Lord had yielded to His Father all 
His divine power as the Son of God. For Himself He 
kept only the weakness of human nature as Son of 
Man. 

The hour for miracles which would show His 
divine power was over. Yet, had the Jews but 
understood, the sacrifice of Christ on Mount Calvary 
was the greatest of all His miracles, a miracle of love. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 317 



CHAPTER CVIII. 

THE CONVERSION OF THE GOOD THIEF. 

Grandma: Above the tumult of the multitude; 
above their sneers and jeers, the voice of Christ was 
heard speaking to His Father: "Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do." 

Madeleine: But it was their fault, Grandma, for 
our Lord had told them over and over who he was. 

Grandma: Yes, surely He had, but once more He 
strives to touch their hearts; once more He appeals 
to His Father for their forgiveness. He does for 
them what he does for us, and we treat Him as did 
the Jews. 

Elizabeth: Oh, Grandma! none of us ever treated 
our Lord as those dreadful people did. 

Grandma: Each time we sin we strike our Lord, 
we insult Him. Each sin we commit was atoned for 
by the wounds in His hands and in His feet, by the 
precious blood He poured forth for us; by His agony 
and death. When we sin mortally we aid His exe- 
cutioners and crucify our Lord. 

Madeleine : This is a fearful thought, Grandma, to 
think we are no better than those wicked men. 



318 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: We are as wicked as they when we 
commit mortal sins, which kill the grace of God in our 
souls. Being but weak creatures, we often fall into 
sins without reflection, yet without bad will. These 
are venial sins, as your catechism teaches, and these 
sins do not make us guilty of the death of Christ. 
However, we all, more or less, have been the cause 
of the suffering of Christ, which He willingly bore for 
us all. Therefore, we have good cause to weep over 
the passion of our Savior, and at the remembrance 
of our sins for which He atoned by His cruel suffer- 
ings and death. 

At these wonderful words, full of mercy and love, 
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
do," the heart of Dismas, the thief crucified at our 
Lord's right hand, was moved with deep and sincere 
contrition for his sins. At sight of so much love 
and mercy, he recognized the Son of God, and, turn- 
ing towards Jesus, his eyes full of tears of sorrow, 
his soul full of deep humility and stirred by a great 
hope, he said: "Lord, remember me when Thou 
shalt come into Thy Kingdom. And Jesus said to 
him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be 
with Me in Paradise." 

Jack : How happy the poor thief must have been4 

Grandma: This blessed promise rejoiced the good 
thief in his last hour, and shows us it is never too late 
to repent. The greatest sinner may be forgiven if, 



THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 319 

with sincere contrition, he turns to God and begs 
His forgiveness. 

But death often comes unawares and we must not 
trust for the grace of repentance on the last day, for 
we may not have time to turn to God, as did the 
good thief. 



320 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CIX. 

CHRIST LEAVES HIS MOTHER TO ST. JOHN. 

Grandma: For three hours our Savior hung upon 
the cross. From the sixth to the ninth hour, great 
darkness covered the earth. 

Peter: Was it an eclipse of the sun such as I 
have studied about? 

Grandma: No, this was a miraculous darkness 
which cannot be explained. We read of this fact 
in history as well as in the Gospels. 

At the foot of the cross stood Mary the Mother of 
Jesus, calm and resigned, but her heart torn with 
sorrow. 

Elizabeth: Poor Blessed Mother, it must have 
taken a great deal of courage to stand there. 

Grandma: The Blessed Virgin had received, as 
Mother of God, a supernatural strength. The 
Gospel expressly says she "stood" at the foot of the 
cross, on which her beloved Son was nailed. She 
stood at the foot of the cross, like a priest at the alter 
offering up the sacrifice of the Mass. With her Son 
she accepted His sufferings in all submission to the 
will of the Father. With Him she offered up His 
life for the salvation of all men. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 321 

St. John was with the Blessed Virgin and also 
Mary Magdalene, and other good women, who had 
ministered to Jesus during His life and who loved 
Him dearly. Gathering His fast ebbing strength, 
Jesus looked lovingly and sadly at His Mother, and 
then at John His beloved disciple, and turning first 
to His mother, He said : "Woman, behold thy son !" 
And then to John: "Behold thy mother!" 

All the human race was represented on Mt. 
Calvary, and He gave Mary to us all as our mother 
when He left her to St. John's care; and to His 
Mother He gave all mankind in the person of St. John. 

Not content to leave us His body and His blood 
in the Blessed Eucharist to be our food and drink; 
here on Mount Calvary Jesus leaves us His own 
Mother, that she may protect and help us as a true 
mother would. And we must love and venerate the 
Mother of Jesus, now become our mother, and ask 
her for all our needs. She will hear us and obtain for 
us God's grace. 

Thus our Lord Jesus and Mary are inseparable, 
for they are Mother and Son; and Mary shares the 
love of Christ Jesus for us all. 



322 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CX. 

CHRIST DIES ON THE CROSS. 

Grandma: The last solemn hour was drawing 
near. The darkness which covered the earth now 
began to disperse, disclosing to all the body of the 
Son of God hanging upon the cross. His blood had all 
been poured out, His strength was spent, His eyes 
were growing dim at the approach of death. That 
we might understand His anguish and the extreme 
loneliness of His last hour, Jesus cried out: "My 
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He 
no longer called God His Father He was bearing 
the sins of the whole world that He might expiate 
them; and in the sight of God He represented all 
sinners. He was now saddened, for His Father 
seemed to turn from Him, and He felt in His Hu- 
manity the estrangement from God's love which is 
due to sinners. 

Again He spoke, His voice grown faint: "I 
thirst!" 

A soldier standing by, moved with compassion, 
took a sponge dipped in vinegar and water, and 
placing it on the end of a reed, moistened the lips 
of the Savior. 




Christ Dies on the Cross 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 323 

This act of mercy had been announced by the 
Prophets, and Jesus, knowing that now all the 
prophecies had been fulfilled, and that the redemp- 
tion of the world was accomplished, murmured: 
"It is consummated!" The purpose of His coming 
on this earth was completed. 

And, lifting up His thorn crowned head, Jesus 
cried with a loud voice: "Father, into Thy hands 
I commend My spirit." And bowing His head, 
our Redeemer died. 



324 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CXI. 

CHRIST IS BURIED. 

After a few moments of silence, Grandma took up 
again the thread of the story : The Son of God had 
died ; God, the creator of the earth and sea and sky, 
God, who commands life and death, had given up 
His life. The gates of heaven had been closed since 
the sin of the first man, Adam. This sin, which 
your catechism teaches is called original sin, was 
now atoned for. Henceforth man was saved and 
could enter heaven if he kept God's law. 

Our Savior died on Good Friday. At his death 
the earth trembled, the rock of Mount Calvary was 
rent in two, and a great terror spread over Jerusa- 
lem. The curtain in the Temple, which separated 
the Holy of Holies from the Temple was torn from 
top to bottom. This showed that the Old Law was 
done away with; the New Law stood in its place. 

At our Lord's death, His soul descended into 
Limbo. This was a place where the souls of the 
just who had died before the coming of Christ 
waited for the Redemption, that they might enter 
heaven. Here our Lord went to announce the joyful 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 325 

tidings that heaven was opened and sin atoned for 
and all mankind at peace with heaven. 

Our Lord's body still hung on the cross. Night 
was drawing near, and as the next day was the 
Sabbath day, the bodies on Mount Calvary had to be 
buried without delay. 

To make sure that the two thieves were dead, 
the soldiers broke their legs. When they came to 
Jesus they found He was dead, but to make sure 
that the body was lifeless, one of the soldiers pierced 
His side with a lance. 

St. John, who still stood at the foot of the cross, 
tells us in the Gospel which he wrote, that from this 
wound flowed water and blood ; which represents the 
two sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. 

One of the disciples, who was rich and powerful, 
named Joseph of Arimathea, went to Pilate and 
asked permission to take the body of our Lord and 
bury it in a sepulchre he owned at the foot of Mount 
Calvary. 

Pilate, having made sure Christ was dead, granted 
the request. 

Joseph, aided by St. John and other disciples, 
took the body of Christ down from the cross and 
gently laid it in the arms of His Mother. From His 
brow they lifted the cruel crown of thorns, and drew 
out the nails from His wounded hands and feet. 
They wrapped His body in a winding sheet and 
covered His head with a cloth. Then they gently 



326 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

carried their most precious burden to the tomb which 
Joseph of Arimathea had cut in the rock. This 
sepulchre of Christ is still shown and visited by- 
pilgrims from all over the world. After one last 
look, one last kiss, Mary, now indeed the Mother 
of Sorrows, left Christ in the sepulchre and together 
with John, her adopted son, and the holy women, re- 
turned sadly to Jerusalem. 

The priests and Pharisees had, from a distance, 
witnessed all these sad ceremonies. They remem- 
bered Jesus had said that He would rise on the third 
day after His death. They went, therefore, to 
Pilate, asking him for soldiers to guard the tomb 
"for fear" they said, "that His disciples should come 
and steal Him away and tell he people He is risen 
from the dead." Pilate, answered: "You have a 
guard, guard it as you know." 

Then with great care the Jews shut the entrance 
to the sepulchre with a great stone sealed with the 
seal of the Temple, and around it set a guard of 
soldiers to watch day and night and prevent its 
being broken into. 

Peter: They thought this would prevent Jesus 
from rising from the dead. No doubt when He rose 
in spite of them they were converted. 

Grandma: This miracle, of which I shall tell 
you, did not convert them any more than all former 
miracles of our Lord had done, and this not with- 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 327 

standing that all these precautions which they took 
to prevent this great miracle only helped to render 
the resurrection of Christ more striking. 



328 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CXIL 

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

Grandma: On fourteen different occasions during 
His life, our Lord had foretold His resurrection after 
death. He had offered this miracle to the Apostles 
and to the Jews as a sign of His Divinity; as a sign 
that He was truly God, equal to His Father, ruler 
over life and death. The enemies of Christ so fully 
understood the great importance of the resurrection 
as a proof of Christ's Divine mission, that they took 
every means to prevent its possibility. By their 
care to prevent it they made the resurrection of 
Christ only the more remarkable. 

The very soldiers who guarded the tomb of Christ 
witnessed His glorious resurrection. The disciples 
had spent the Sabbath day overpowered with grief. 
They had forgotten His promise that He would rise 
again on the third day. He whom they loved was 
dead and it was hard to believe in His divinity in 
this dark hour of sorrow. The holy women, on 
their return to Jerusalem, had bought one hundred 
pounds of sweet spices that they might, when the 
Sabbath day would be over, embalm the body of 
Jesus. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 329 

At dawn on Easter Sunday the Holy Sepulchre 
was broken open. An angel from heaven, brighter 
than the sun, appeared before the astonished guards 
and rolled back the stone which blocked the sepulchre. 
The guards fell back as if dead, so great was their 
fear; and as soon as they were able to rise they fled 
to the city. The Son of God had risen from the dead. 
He had fulfilled the prophecy which He had made. 
Our Lord had conquered death for us, all sons of 
Adam. 

Jack: How can death be conquered. It is not 
a man you can meet and fight? 

Grandma: Our Lord conquered death by His 
resurrection, that is to say that, by atoning for the 
sins of man, He gave to souls eternal life and to our 
bodies the power to rise again from the dead on the 
last day. Even as Christ took up His body again, 
so shall we all. 

If we have been faithful here on this earth, where 
we are tried, our bodies will share in our reward in 
heaven, as they will share in our eternal punish- 
ment if we are unfaithful. Then the guards fled 
to the city and told the High Priests and princes what 
had happened, but they continued unbelieving. Still 
full of hatred and envy, they gave money to the 
soldiers as a bribe that they might say that during 
the night the disciples had stolen away the body 
of Jesus. 

Jane: Did the people believe this wicked story? 



330 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: No; because the miracle was too 
evident. First the guards could not all have slept 
at once and so soundly that the noise of the breaking 
of the sepulchre could not have wakened them. 
Moreover, no one could readily believe that the 
disciples, who were so timid that they had fled from 
their Master at the first sign of danger, should have 
become strong and fearless enough to fight the 
armed men who were watching the sepulchre. 
Then, too, if the soldiers had slept while on duty 
the High Priests and princes would have thrown 
them into prison and used them as witnesses before 
the people against the disciples of Christ instead of 
bribing them to keep silence. 

The news of the resurrection of our Lord soon 
spread far and wide ; and prepared the way for the 
thousands of conversions brought about later on by 
the preaching of St. Peter and the other Apostles. 



THE CHILDREN'S WFE OF CHRIST 331 



CHAPTER CXIII. 

MARY MAGDALENE AT THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 

Grandma: Very early in the morning of Easter 
Sunday Mary Magdalene set out to visit the Holy 
Sepulchre. Mary was the converted sinner who 
had bathed the feet of Christ with tears of repentance, 
and who had accompanied the Blessed Mother to 
Calvary and stood with her at the foot of the Cross. 
While she was wending her way to the sepulchre, 
thinking sadly of Christ lying in the tomb, He had 
already risen from the dead. 

When Mary Magdalene reached the spot the guards 
fled, and she saw with amazement that the door was 
thrown open and the heavy stone rolled back. She 
cast a quick glance into the tomb and not finding 
the body of her Savior, ran back in all haste to the 
city to warn St. Peter and the other disciples. 

Peter and John made haste and followed Mary 
to the sepulchre. St. John, who was much younger, 
outran Peter and was the first to reach the spot. 
They looked and found the sepulchre empty, as 
Mary had told them. 

Peering into the dark tomb they saw the shroud 
lying there which the risen Christ had cast off, and 



332 THE CHILDREN'S UFE OF CHRIST 

the napkins which had wrapped His head folded 
apart. 

The two disciples forgot at this moment the 
promise of the resurrection, and thinking the body 
of their Master had been stolen, they were filled 
with distress and alarm, and hastened to tell the 
other disciples what they had seen. 

Notice all these details, my children, for they 
show plainly that the Apostles had had no thought, 
as the Jews suspected, of taking away the body of 
Christ to prove his resurrection. They did not even 
believe Christ would fulfill His promise and rise 
from the dead. 



'■"■'" /■• - 



Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 333 



CHAPTER CXIV. 

CHRIST APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 

Grandma Mary Magdalene remained at the holy 
sepulchre, after Peter and John had gone back to tell 
the Apostles of the event they had witnessed. 

Lelf alone, Mary knelt near the tomb, thinking of 
Him whom she loved, who had been laid there. 
Now she knew not even where His body lay. 

Drawing nearer she peered into the open sepulchre 
and saw two Angels clothed in white seated on 
either side "where the body of Jesus had been laid." 

They spoke to her : ' ' Woman , why weepest thou ? ' ' 

Weeping bitterly, Mary replied: "Because they 
have taken away my Lord; and I know not where 
they have laid Him." 

While speaking she perceived near her a man 
whom she took to be the gardener who had charge 
of the grounds. Tears obscured her vison and she 
said to him: "Sir, if thou hast taken Him hence, 
tell me where thou hast laid Him." 

A voice which she knew well, and loved beyond all 
other voices, called her by name: "Mary!" 

She started up in glad surprise and saw her beloved 
Savior standing before her. In her joy she cast 



334 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

herself at His feet to cover them anew with kisses. 
But Jesus said to her: "Do not touch Me, for I 
am not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My 
brethren, and say to them: I ascend to My Father 
and to your Father, to My God and to your God." 

Louis: Why does our Lord, who is God, say He 
is going to God? 

Grandma: Because, as you know, He was true 
man as well as true God. As man, Jesus prayed, 
adored God, and obeyed Him, even as we do. In 
His human nature, God was truly His God. Mary 
Magdalene hastened to obey her Master, and, her 
heart full of joy, she ran to announce to the disciples 
the glad tidings of the resurrection. But they did 
not believe Mary's testimony. 

Elizabeth: It is surprising that the Apostles 
would not believe in the resurrection which Jesus 
had foretold and which Mary Magdalene had seen 
with her own eyes. Really these men did not 
deserve the love Jesus bore them. 

Grandma: Remember the Apostles were still 
weak and ignorant men. They had not as yet 
received the Holy Ghost, who confirmed their faith 
and enlightened their understanding. You will see 
that after the coming of the Holy Spirit, these ignorant 
weak, and timid men became eloquent, full of 
courage and learning, and converted thousands of 
unbelievers to the Faith. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 335 



CHAPTER CXV. 

CHRIST APPEARS TO THE) HOI,Y WOMEN. 

Grandma: A few hours later Mary, the mother 
of James and Solome, and two other holy women, 
went to the Holy Sepulchre to help Mary Magdalene, 
embalm the body of Jesus. On the way they asked 
each other anxiously how they would enter the 
sepulchre, thinking of the huge stone which closed its 
entrance. As they drew nearer, they saw with 
surprise the stone rolled back, the sepulchre opened 
and deserted. 

They hastened forward and looked into the tomb, 
but in vain, the body of their Lord was not there. 
They were seized with consternation and fright as 
they saw a bright angel seated at the head of the 
Sepulchre; but the angel reassured them, saying: 
"Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, 
who was crucified : He is risen, as He said, He is not 
here; behold the place where they laid Him. But 
go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before 
you into Galilee ; there you shall see Him, as He told 
you." 

Henry. Why does the angel say they are to tell 
Peter especially? 



336 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

Grandma: Our Lord had chosen St. Peter to be 
Head of the Apostles, and they recognized him as 
their chief; and the angel here confirms his headship. 

At the words of the angel, they recalled the 
prophecy of our Lord and, filled with awe and wonder, 
they sped back to Jerusalem to bear the glad tidings 
to the disciples. But, behold, as they made haste, 
Christ Himself stood before them. "Hail!" he said. 

They cast themselves at His feet and adored Him. 
Jesus spoke to them : "Fear not, go tell My brethren 
that they depart into Galilee and there they shall see 
Me." Saying this, Christ disappeared and the holy 
women did as He told them; but the Apostles be- 
lieved their word no more than they had believed 
Mary Magdalene. They persisted in their incredulity. 

Elizabeth: It seems to me the Apostles are very 
stubborn. I would have believed. 

Grandma: God permitted their presistent in- 
credulity to aid our faith. The more incredulous 
they were in the beginning, the greater the value of 
their word to us when they came to believe in the 
resurrection. The testimony they gave of the risen 
Christ, a testimony they confirmed with their blood, 
is all the stronger because of their slowness of belief. 




Christ Appears to the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 337 



CHAPTER CXVI. 

CHRIST APPEARS TO THE DISCIPLES ON THE ROAD 
TO EMMAUS. 

Grandma: Towards evening on the day of the 
resurrection, two of the disciples were walking 
on the road to Emmaus, a small village outside of 
Jerusalem. On the way they were conversing sadly 
together of the coming of the Messias, and of His 
crucifixion. 

Jesus drew near, but they did not know Him ; and 
walking on with them, He asked them the cause of 
their sadness. Willingly the disciples told Him 
of the events of the past few days, and they added 
sadly: "We indeed hoped He would have delivered 
Israel, and now, besides all this, this is the third 
day since these things were done; and some of the 
women of our company affrighted us, who before 
it was light were at the sepulchre, and not finding 
His body, came, saying that they had also seen a 
vision of angels who say that He is alive. And 
some of our people went to the sepulchre and found 
it so as the women had said, but Him they found not." 

Then Jesus said to them: "O foolish and slow 
of heart to believe in all things which the prophets 



338 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

have spoken Ought not Christ to have suffered 
these things, and so to enter into His glory?" 

And then, beginning from Moses and the other 
prophets, He explained to them the prophecies and 
how they had all foretold the suffering and death of 
Christ and His glorious resurrection. Finally they 
reached Emmaus, and as their divine companion 
seemed about to leave them, eagerly the disciples 
begged Him to stay, saying entreating: "Stay with 
us, for it is late, and the day is drawing to a close." 

Jesus consented, and they entered the traveler's 
inn to partake of the evening meal together. Seated 
at table, Jesus took the bread in His hands, blessed it, 
broke it, and gave it to His companions. In His 
blessed hands the bread was changed into His 
Sacred Body and these happy disciples received 
Communion from our Lord's hands. Then their eyes 
were opened and they knew their Master, who 
disappeared before them. They said to one another : 
"Were not our hearts all burning within us, while 
He talked with us on the way?" They knew at 
last that their companion was none other than the 
risen Savior, and they hastened back to Jerusalem 
to announce the glad tidings to the other disciples. 

But even then the disciples would not believe that 
the crucified Jesus was now alive and risen from the 
dead. 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 339 



CHAPTER CXVII. 

CHRIST APPEARS TO THE DISCIPIyES GATHERED 
TOGETHER. 

Grandma: The disciples were assembled together 
and the doors shut. No doubt they were discussing 
among themselves the wonders they had heard. 
Suddenly Jesus stood before them, and spoke: 
" Peace be to you; it is I, fear not." 

But they were frightened, for they thought they 
saw a ghost. But the sweet voice they knew so 
well added: "Why are you troubled, and why do 
thoughts arise in your hearts?" And showing them 
His hands and His feet, which bore the holes made 
by the nails, He added. "See My hands and My 
feet, it is I Myself; handle, and see: for a spirit 
hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have." 

And while the disciples hesitated, divided be- 
tween hope and fear, the Geod Master, always 
patient, offered them one last sign to convince them: 
"Have you here anything to eat?" He asked. 
They offered Him a piece of broiled fish and some 
honey. He ate of these, not because He was hungry, 
but to prove to the disciples that He was truly risen 



340 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 

from the dead. Then He distributed among them 
what was left. 

At last the disciples were convinced. They saw 
with their own eyes, they touched with their own 
hands, their risen Lord. Downcast and disheart- 
ened but a moment before, now they were full of joy 
and gladness. They adored Christ Jesus, risen from 
the dead. Then our Lord reproached them for the 
hardness of their hearts and their slowness of belief, 
and He enlightened their hearts that they might 
understand that what the Prophets had foretold 
concerning Him had now been accomplished in His 
life, death, and glorious resurrection. 

He said to them again: "Peace be to you. As 
the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. When He 
had said this, He breathed on them; and He said 
to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins 
you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose 
sins you shall retain, they are retained." 

Thus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance, 
in which sacrament we confess our sins and obtain 
their forgiveness. 

Henry: But our Lord don't say we have to 
confess our sins? He only speaks of forgiveness of 
sins. 

Grandma: When our Lord gave to His Apostles 
and to their successors power to forgive and retain 
sins, He knew there would be sins in the lives of men 
which would need forgiveness. These sins must 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 341 

be made known that they may be forgiven or re- 
tained. This is confession — the telling of our sins, 
that we may receive absolution for them from one 
who has the power to forgive them. 

The priest has likewise the power to withhold 
forgiveness if he finds the penitent has not repented 
for his sins and has no firm purpose of amendment. 

Remember, therefore, children, that the Sacra- 
ment of Penance was not instituted by man, but by 
Christ Himself when He said to His Apostles: 
"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven 
them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are 
retained." 



342 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CXVIII. 

THE INCREDULITY OF THOMAS. 

Grandma: When Christ had appeared to the 
Apostles gathered together, Thomas, one of the 
twelve, was not with them. When he joined the 
other disciples and they told him the glad news of 
how they had seen and talked with their Lord, and 
even eaten with Him, Thomas refused to believe, 
He only answered: "Except I shall see in His 
hands the print of the nails and put my finger into 
the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, 
I will not believe." 

Eight days later the Apostles were again gathered 
together and Thomas was with them. The doors 
and windows were closed as formerly. Suddenly 
Jesus stood in their midst and said to them: 

"Peace be with you." And turning to Thomas 
He said: "Put in thy finger hither, and see My 
hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into 
My side; and be not faithless but believing." 

The unbelieving Apostle, now convinced, fell at 
the feet of Christ, full of faith and sorrow, crying out: 
"My Lord and my God." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 343 

Jesus said to him reproachfully: "Because thou 
hast vSeen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed; blessed 
are they that have not seen, and have believed." 

Jane: We believe without seeing, do we not, 
Grandma? 

Grandma: Surely it is of us all our Lord here 
speaks: "Blessed are they who believe without 
seeing." But it is not sufficient for us to have faith; 
we must live according to our faith by practicing 
the virtues of which our Lord gave us the example 
throughout His life; and by living our lives accord- 
ing to His teachings. 



344 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CXIX. 

ST. PETER APPOINTED HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 

Grandma: After His glorious resurrection, Christ 
remained forty days on earth. He appeared fre- 
quently to the Apostles, now on the shores of the 
Lake of Galilee, now in the upper room where the 
Last Supper had been celebrated, and where they 
assembled to pray and talk together of the wonders 
they had witnessed. 

During these forty days Christ taught the Apostles 
all things needful to the establishment of His Church. 
He gave them power to continue His work. 

On one of these occasions, on the shores of the 
Lake of Galilee, Christ spoke to St. Peter, selecting 
him out from among his brethren: "Simon, son 
of John, lovest thou Me more than these?" 

Peter answered humbly: "Yea, Lord, Thou 
knowest that I love Thee." 

"Feed My lambs," our Lord replied. 

A second time Jesus asked him the self-same 
question; "Simon, lovest thou Me?" 

Again Peter answered eagerly: "Lord, Thou 
knowest that I love Thee." 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 345 

And again our Lord said to him: "Feed My 
lambs." 

Three times, as you know, Peter had denied Christ, 
and Christ now asked of him a third assurance of 
his love and devotion; again he questioned him: 
' ' Lovest thou Me ? ' ' 

Very humbly, having in mind his past presump- 
tion and sin, Peter replied: "Lord, Thou knowest 
all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee." 

Then Jesus looked on him lovingly and said: 
"Feed My sheep." 

Paul: Of what lambs and of what sheep was our 
Lord speaking? 

Grandma: The lambs of which our Lord spoke 
are all the faithful of the Church of Christ. The 
sheep are the pastors, the bishops, the priests, who 
baptize us and teach us all truths. Sheep and 
lambs all form one flock, under the guidance of one 
shepherd, St. Peter and his successors, our Holy 
Father the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. 
Therefore, we all obey the Holy Father as Christ's 
representative, the successor of St. Peter, whom 
Christ Jesus appointed Head of His Church on earth. 



346 THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 



CHAPTER CXX. 

CHRIST ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN. 

Grandma: The forty days following the resur- 
rection were over. The time had come for Christ 
to leave this earth; His disciples and Apostles were 
gathered around Him for the last time. Jesus led 
this band of faithful ones to the brow of the Mount 
of Olives, outside of Jerusalem. He spoke to the 
Apostles saying: "Thus it is written, and thus it 
behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from 
the dead the third day. And you are witnesses of 
these things unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 
And I send the promise of My Father upon you ; but 
stay you in the city, till you be endued with power 
from on high." 

And lifting up His hands He blessed them and 
said to them: "Go ye into the world, whole and 
preach the Gospel to every creature. Baptize them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you; and behold I 
am with you all days, even to the consummation of 
the world." 



- 












Christ Ascends into Heaven 



THE CHILDREN'S LIFE OF CHRIST 347 

Thus solemnly our Lord took leave of His Apostles. 
And behold He was raised up before them and a 
bright cloud hid Him from their sight. Thus 
Christ ''departed from them and was carried up to 
Heaven." 

The mystery of the Redemption was accomplished^ 
original sin atoned for, the Church of Christ estab- 
lished, and the Blessed Eucharist instituted. 
Through this Sacrament Jesus Christ remains with 
us, hidden under the appearances of bread and wine, 
though His visible bodily presence has been with- 
drawn from this earth. 



: l : : " 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: July 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





010 458 222 9 



